La Cabinita: Que rico after all these years!

I'd go back just for the chips.

Every so often, it's a good idea to check in with an old favorite to make sure it's still worth recommending. I must have started going to La Cabanita in Montrose soon after it opened in 1989. In those days it was half the size it is now and offered only beer and questionable wine margaritas. But we were happy that the food was substantially better than most of the Mexican restaurants of 1990s Silver Lake, and I always ordered the rajas con crema -- homemade tortillas and roasted chiles in cream sauce.
This might have been my first visit back since I started this blog in 2004, and I'm happy to report that for the most part, it was still a good experience -- plus, they've got real margaritas now! I'm not sure why some of the other reviews are so varied, though it's true the service can be a bit slow, it's generally packed with kids and sometimes there's a wait -- but none of this was a problem for us.
I was craving chips before we even sat down, but this basket of freshly-fried, perfectly crunchy chips was the best I've had in ages, with good green and red salsas. Matt really liked the mole enchiladas last time he ate there, but this time he tried chicken tamales with mole and salsa verde -- the sauces were good, but one tamale was overcooked.

My Chiles a la cabinita (above) were stuffed with chicken, almonds and raisins, similar to Chiles en nogada, which they also serve. The overall effect was just a touch too sweet, but balanced out when kicked up with some salsa roja. Handmade tortillas were perfect for sopping up black beans and cheese. The Yelpers are right about one thing -- order the special dishes rather than the usual tacos or burritos for maximum effect.
The verdict? The quality is still there, but La Cabanita's flavors seem just a little muted compared to some newer places. La Cabanita is the same as it always was -- the difference is that it's been joined by Cacao, Yxta, Loteria, Malo and other nuevo-Mexican restaurants that offer more vibrantly-flavored alternatives to the same old Mexican combination plates. Cacao might have an edge in flavor, but La Cabanita's got the booze, so take your pick. Prices are moderate -- higher than a taco joint, lower than say, Rivera.

La Cabanita
3445 N. Verdugo Rd., Montrose
(818) 957-2711

Mitsuwa's Japanese food fair spotlights hard-to-find street food

Takoyaki (octopus dumpling) makers cry out a welcoming chant as they cook.

Mitsuwa Market's Japanese food fair is going on Saturday and Sunday at the Torrance and Costa Mesa locations. I stopped by the Torrance location last night as the vendors were winding down around 7 pm, but I still got a chance to taste a few snacks that aren't commonly available in L.A. Because they're more unusual items, most of the snacks are pricier than typical street food, and the booths are cash only. Don't expect a huge food festival; it's a few booths in the middle of the market, but it's certainly worth checking out if you have to be in the area anyway, as I did yesterday.
Among the other offerings are fresh inari sushi with crab meat, seafood bento boxes with roe and uni; and beef tongue ramen, which I really wanted to try, but it's not available to go.

These special "double rich sweet potatoes" are rare and expensive.
They're available cooked over hot rocks at about $6 per potato, cut into sticks that are sweetened with syrup, in a mango dessert or in a sweet potato-apple pie.

If the sweet potatoes are too rich for your blood, try the freshly-made fish cakes at just $1.80 each, available in lots of flavors including cod roe, cheese, octopus and sardine. The octopus/scallion ones were much nicer than the fish cakes I've had in Little Tokyo.

The packaging for the takoyaki (octopus balls) is exquisite, with a special octopus design on the bags and neat cardboard boxes. The takoyaki were softer and more delicate than the ones I've had at izakayas, with larger pieces of fresh octopus in the middle. At first I didn't like them, but their custardy-softness grew on me and by the end of the box, I was a fan.
I capped off my snackfest with a green tea tiramisu from the bakery/Japanese spaghetti stall.

Village Bakery & Cafe: Atwater loves its daily bread

Biscotti and fresh bread daily at Atwater's Village Bakery & Cafe

I kept hearing good things about the Village Bakery on Los Feliz Blvd. in Atwater, but I have to confess that I have a fear of bakeries: First, that they will let me down and I won't find the rhubarb tart or pretzel cheese bun of my dreams, or second, that they'll be so great that I'll be forced to work weekly pain de campagne binges into my exercise plan.
Village Bakery falls somewhere in-between on the bread and pastry scale -- it's solid stuff if you often have a hankering for fresh bread and bacon scones, but not really a drive-across-town kind of place like Huckleberry Bakery. What it is good for is a non-sceney place for breakfast or lunch, with some nice egg dishes and pancakes that pleased even my super-particular daughter. Here's an excerpt from my review for the Los Feliz Ledger:

The saddest part of L.A.’s five-year long cupcake craze is that it’s taken diverted attention from fresh, basic bread. Village Bakery and Café is working to solve that dilemma, revamping and expanding the former LA Bread space with a spiffed up menu and homemade pastries. The homey café was launched last fall by Barbara Monderine, a former partner in Auntie Em’s. There are few bakeries on the near-Eastside, so Village Bakery is a good place to stock up on baguettes and specialty loaves. Sourdough boules—the large round loaves—are probably the most popular, but 12 grain and Asiago cheese are also worth a try. A French friend recommends the boule and the brioche, wishing, “If only they would make a great croissant.”Cooked-to-order breakfasts can take a while to make, but the wait is worth it for creations like Brian’s Special (above), combining a potato leek cake, tomato, spinach, parmesan cheese, eggs and bacon crumbles ($9).

 It's a muffin...it's a donut...it's a donut muffin!

A cup of good coffee with a prudently-sized cinnamon roll or even better, a bacon-maple scone makes the perfect quick breakfast. Village Bakery is a nice surprise in a neighborhood that can always use more neighborly places for regular folks.
Village Bakery and Cafe
3119 Los Feliz Blvd.
323-662-8600

WP24: Pitting Wolfgang Puck against the SGV's Chinese food

Shrimp toast: WP24 or your neighborhood Thai restaurant? WP24 for sure -- no one else uses spot prawns, and this is a Thai delicacy that isn't as popular as it once was.

WP24, Wolfgang Puck's latest restaurant on the 24th floor of the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel next to Downtown's L.A. Live, has one of the best views in town, and one of the few places with food to match the view. I was invited to try WP24 Friday and thought the food was fun, accessible and excellently-prepared, though I'm more used to ground-level dim sum than dumplings priced as high as the view.
The room is rather somber, with dark leather chairs tones of brown and gray enlivened by rectangular punched metal light fixtures meant to mirror the lighted skyscrapers outside.
Service is on the formal side -- appropriate for the setting, but it would be even more relaxing if the servers were a touch more laid-back and friendly. Personally, I liked the strange covers of the Cure and David Bowie that played all evening, but they were probably a little loud for the older businessman crowd that made up about half the diners. The other half were couples of all ages celebrating birthdays or on dates-with-a-view, and a younger after-work crowd in the large lounge area.
People accustomed to dining in the San Gabriel Valley's dim sum parlors and noodle shops will probably wonder why anyone would pay far more just for a view of the Staples Center, but they're missing the point. So we'll run down the dishes we had and decide whether they're worth trying at WP24. Let me know if you know of anyplace to get worthy similar dishes.
Here were some highlights of the tasting menu we were served -- everything is on either the regular menu or the lounge menu, where a full sushi menu is also available.
At top are lobster-stuffed spring rolls, and the sesame-encrusted dumplings are filled with spicy curried beef with just the right heat level. While these dumplings resemble something from a top dim sum spot, they're even better for the most part -- even Sea Harbour doesn't use spot prawns and organic chicken.
WP24 or Sea Harbour?: WP24's appetizers are worth the splurge once in a while.
Pork belly buns with Chinese honey-garlic glaze are high on the list of decadent, rich, sweet, doughy, salty things you can put in your mouth. You could sit in the bar, order these and a few more dim sum along with the Dragon's Fire tequila-jalapeno cocktail while gazing at the skyline, and be a happy person.
After that came duck liver buns -- also decadent, but maybe even too rich, whereas the pork belly was just right.
WP24 or SGV? I've never had the famous Momofuku pork belly buns or the one at Gorbals in L.A., but Flying Pig's were nothing special, so WP24 takes this round.


Hot and sour soup with King crab, roasted corn and sweet prawn wontons was perhaps the least successful dish for me -- there was just a little too much going on, and the corn made the dish sweet instead of bracingly vinegary. I wouldn't turn it down as a light supper on its own, but it's a little heavy for a multi-course dinner.
WP24 or SGV: Stick with 101 Noodle.

Then came a parade of adorable petite dim sum, with a perfect har gow and several more well-balanced dumplings like lobster-shrimp sui mai and dan dan dumpling with organic chicken. Next up was a square of excellent crispy suckling pig. Still, having this many appetizer-type dishes meant a lot of hoisin and Thai chili-type sauces, which means many flavors lean towards the sweet side -- a common occurrence in pan-Asian restaurants, but one that can be remedied with careful ordering. For two, I'd recommend a rich appetizer, then a whole fish, lobster or beef entree, a noodle dish and some vegetables, for example.
The other dim sum were quite nice, but not exceedingly better than, say, King Hua or Elite.

Though other diners were tucking into impressive lobster and whole fish presentations, we were ready for a break from seafood and went with sliced Szechuan style Kobe steak from Snake River Farms, Idaho, with smoked chili-shallot sauce and chili oil. At $46, this is certainly an indulgence, but since I could easily keep my beef consumption to a few carne asada tacos a month and Kobe steak once a year or so, it would be worth it to me. This buttery steak had a mild, rich flavor, and my tasting portion was just right.
With the beef, we had a side of Hong Kong noodles ($12), which are very thin Chow Mein noodles, expertly stir-fried with wild field mushrooms. It was every bit as good as some noodle dishes found in the SGV, and with much higher-quality ingredients.
WP24 or a "real" Asian restaurant? I've never had beef this good at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant, so I'll go with WP24.
Dessert wasn't on the menu, although I enjoyed the Calamansi Vacherin at the opening party. Our dessert was yogurt-pistachio ice cream paired with a fragrant pistachio cake and fresh cherries. We weren't convinced at first, but I've been craving that ice cream, made with candied pistachios, ever since, and all the flavors paired perfectly.
WP24 or elsewhere?: I happen to like real Asian desserts just fine, but WP24's are Western-style with Asian accents. They stand just fine on their own, so I'll vote for WP24 here.

The tally? It looks like WP24 took every round except the soup and the assorted dim sum. If you're after a view, want to impress out of town guests or are on an expense account, WP24 is well worth checking out. If you're not, hit the bar and try the pork buns anyway.

WP24
in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, 900 W. Olympic Blvd.
213-743-8824

How many bloggers can fit in one Starry Kitchen?

At least six bloggers celebrating the Starry Kitchen grand opening...

The famous crispy tofu balls

The Starry Kitchen has been open for three months now, but things were so crazy that owners Nguyen and Thi Tran waited until this week to throw a grand opening party. It was grand indeed, although I starting knocking over bottles as soon as I walked in, in some strange flashback of the previous week's wine-soaked 9 hour lunch. Nguyen was as hyper as ever, hugging bloggers and faithful customers who were lapping up Korean noodles, chicken wings and the restaurant's signature crispy tofu balls. The balls are an ideal tofu delivery device, larded with corn kernels (can you use the word larded with tofu), coated with some rice krispy type flakes and something extremely green, then deep fried and drizzled with spicy mayo. They also go pretty well with beer. Unfortunately the Starry Kitchen has no liquor license as yet (it was a private party), but they will be opening for dinner starting next Thursday until 9 pm.

Wolfgang Puck intros WP24 at Downtown's Ritz-Carlton

WP24's impressive wine wall overlooks Downtown L.A.

High atop Downtown's new Ritz-Carlton, Wolfgang Puck officially introduced his latest restaurant WP24 last night, though it's already been open a few weeks. The concept is haute Asian fusion -- a Chinois for the 21st century -- and let's say the prices are commensurate with the height of the restaurant. After seeing the foggy view of the basketball playoffs at the Staple Center, we got a press tour of the vast kitchen, where Wolfgang proceeded to stuff several lucky writers with pork belly until we nearly burst. I'm looking forward to a full meal there, but all the tastes we had were spicy and fun. I loved seeing the vats of chile sauce and rows of Thai condiments in the kitchen -- it seems like the kitchen isn't afraid of a little heat.Carole Dixon from FeastLA spied the whole crispy pork belly and convinced Wolfgang to give us a taste or three.

Even better were the pork belly bao, with hoisin sauce and scallions folded into tender rice buns.

Sherry Yard, left, and WP24 pastry chef Sally Camacho were manning the pastry station, which emphasizes Asian flavors like calamansi Vacherin and desserts made with Thai ovaltine.

WP24 executive chef David McIntyre, left, formerly of Spago, and Lee Hefter whipped up some Chinese sausage fried rice in case we were still hungry. Delish.

The kitchen has a full sushi area with a giant tub of sushi rice, and an array of spices in the background.
It's an impressive set-up, though the room seems targeted towards flush Downtown businesspeople and Staples Center sports stars. I hope they appreciate the pork belly!

Starry Kitchen starts dinner soon; free sodas Monday

Malaysian chicken curry, coconut rice, japchae noodles

At Friday's Twitter-convened blogger lunch, which somehow mushroomed to about 10 people, Starry Kitchen owner Nguyen Tran announced that it had been their biggest day in three months of business, so he's treating customers to free sodas on Monday in celebration. The irrepressible Tran and his wife Thi are glowing with pride due to Starry Kitchen's near-instant popularity with the Downtown lunch crowd. And there's good news for those who don't happen to be Downtown during Starry Kitchen's weekday lunch hours: in just a few weeks, they'll be open for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays, just in time for the California Plaza free concerts during the summer.

Now, on to our lunch. Clearly, not everyone gets to sample pan-Asian dishes like Malaysian free-range chicken curry on coconut rice with three great wines the way we did, thanks to sommelier David Haskell, who brought the wines and helped us pair them. But Starry Kitchen's rotating array of home-style Vietnamese/fusion dishes -- from Japanese meatball curry made with Angus beef to lemongrass chicken -- would be delicious even without wine. Lunchers can choose the daily selections in a banh mi, a wrap, a salad or with rice, at reasonable prices -- everything is around $8 or $9.
It was the last day of braised coconut jackfruit, nearly a dead ringer for Vietnamese stewed beef with lots of star anise, which went well with the red Cotes de Brouilly. I always love Domaine Tempier Bandol rose, and it seemed especially appropriate to be drinking it during the Cannes film festival, even if it was paired with chicken curry in the middle of Downtown L.A. Korean japchae noodles with earthy shitakes were also a

Japanese curry meatballs over salad

good match for the red wine. Starry Kitchen's coleslaw was perfectly balanced, on the creamy side but not sweet or cloying. I'll bet it would be a great match for the famous crispy tofu balls, which are coming back on Monday.
Starry Kitchen is a super fun place, with owners who clearly love what they do -- Nguyen seems to be having a great time, especially compared to his former life as a film producer's rep. The food is closest in style to Good Girl Dinette, but with lots of their own imaginative twists. Nguyen says they're hoping to expand, so I'll be a happy eater if Starry Kitchen shows up in Silver Lake, mid-Wilshire or Pasadena.
Starry Kitchen
350 S. Grand Ave. (California Plaza)
213-617-3474

DeliBar: Chameau's informal stepchild

The old Chameau was a charming place, with savory sweet duck bastilla and one of L.A.'s most fun interiors, like taking a trip to a colorful modern souk. It wasn't terribly expensive, but it was still too high for most people to eat at frequently, and besides, how often does anyone crave Moroccan food? So the owners revamped the space and turned it into Chameau DeliBar, a handy spot for a sandwich or some salads to take home. It's not ncessarily a destination spot, but it's probably a lot more useful if you live in the neighborhood or need a bite before a movie at Cinefamily. The sandwich menu offers selections like the merguez sausage with olive tapenade and crispy leeks; there's also hot panini, wraps, salads and customizable sandwiches. I chose tuna salad on a pretzel roll with harissa, a winning combination that I'd gladly return for. I like a place with lots of interesting salads in the display case, and DeliBar doesn't disappoint: there's a zingy eggplant salad, Moroccan-style carrot salad, golden beets, quinoa and marinated vegetables. Like Larchmont Larder and other similar spots, there's roast chickens, mac 'n cheese and other sides to assemble a meal at home; unlike those spots, the vaguely Moroccan theme is a welcome change of pace. Even better, since there's still a beer and wine license and plenty of seating, you can linger over a glass of Tempranillo and a cheese and charcuterie plate. And thank goodness, they kept the colorful decor and funky eyelash ceiling decoration.
DeliBar
339 N. Fairfax
(323) 951-0039

L.A. Times says "Tijuana's Back!"

                                                         La Mezcalera, Tijuana

Cool story in the L.A. Times entitled Tijuana's Getting Its Groove Back, about Tijuana feeling safer now that a big crime boss was arrested. The article mentions upscale restaurants Cheripan and La Querencia, which we visited on our Tijuana crawl last summer, as well as La Mezcalera, the groovy mescal bar. What are you waiting for? Check out the restaurants and seafood trucks of Tijuana and Ensenada before it gets muy caliente.

Urban Homestead on Private Chefs of Beverly Hills Friday

Check out the reality soap opera "Private Chefs of Beverly Hills" Friday night at 10 pm on the Food Network. It was shot at the Path to Freedom Urban Homestead, and among the diners trying out a vegetarian meal from the garden are Good Food's Evan Kleiman, author Amelia Saltsman, the L.A. Times' Jessica Gelt and me.

When we taped the show in January, it was a freezing cold, drizzly afternoon, but we enjoyed our lunch cooked by chefs Brian Hill and Manouschka Guerrier, which included fresh duck eggs, preserves from the Dervaes family pantry (below) and lasagna from the clay oven (above). The Dervaes family grows 6,000 lbs. of produce a year on their small urban lot near downtown Pasadena, and raises bees, chickens, ducks, rabbits and goats. It's an inspiring place even for air conditioning-using meat-eaters like me, and we learned a lot from chatting with the Dervaes family about why their vegetables have such intense flavors (it's the soil, of course) and lots more. If you want to know more about the homestead, check their blog and Facebook page. (For a family that uses olive oil to light their house, they're pretty plugged in.) 
(photos by Anais Dervaes)

Four Cafe: Eagle Rock's fresh green canteen

Every neighborhood needs a cafe like Eagle Rock's new Four Cafe, with a bright, modern approach to salads, imaginative sandwiches, appealing baked goods and good coffee. Owners Michelle and Corey Wilton clearly saw that need when they transformed a Colorado Blvd. real estate office into Four Cafe, with a pleasantly rustic interior and a menu of healthy dishes prepared with organic produce.

The space was smaller than I had expected, with a small case of salads and desserts up front, a long row of tables and a counter for overflow diners.

The smoky fish in my smoked albacore, grapefruit and avocado salad (left, $7.50), proved a little too bold for the delicate flavors of grapefruit and avocado, and the lemon vinaigrette wasn't assertive enough to tie it all together, but it still made a healthy light lunch. Fellow bloggers Mattatouille and Jessica Ritz came along to help sample; Mattouille liked his pork loin sandwich with blood orange macerated fennel, while Jessica's pancetta /blue cheese/ fig salad was another combination could have used a slightly more acidic dressing to bring out its flavors.

Though we agreed that the blood orange cake and the chocolate cupcake with salted caramel icing were probably more compelling than the salads, I'm still really glad more places like Four Cafe are opening lately, with colorful fresh vegetables, delicious desserts and a commitment to quality ingredients. If I can tear myself away from Cacao Mexicatessen, I'll certainly return for a grilled asparagus sandwich with sheep's milk feta, a piece of spinach and sheep's milk ricotta tart and a brown butter lavender cookie. And breakfast is due to start in June!

Four Cafe
2122 1/2 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
323-550-1988

Amalia's Guatamalan: An easy trip to Central America

Garnachas, Guatemala's answer to sopes, at Amalia's

After stopping by for bean-stuffed plaintains on the Latin American dessert crawl, I reviewed Amalia's Guatemalan Restaurant for the Los Feliz Ledger this month. I love this little house on Virgil with the pleasant patio and I'm glad Amalia's is a cut above the mediocre Thai restaurant that used to be there. Here's an excerpt from the review:
Take dishes familiar to Angelenos like tamales and chile rellenos and add a tropical feel with avocado, plenty of plaintains and a distinctive set of spices, and you’ve got Guatemalan cuisine.
Starters include tamales that differ from the large, corn-husk wrapped Mexican varieties: Tamales de chipilin are small ones with no filling, made for dipping, while chuchitos are small and filled with chicken or pork. Another good starter is garnachas, fried sopapilla-like discs topped with ground beef and curtido, or cabbage salad.

Amalia's sampler plate with longaniza sausage, carne asada, chile relleno and more

Hearty main-course soups are at the heart of the Guatemalan menu. Seafood, chicken and beef soups are comforting choices, but even more distinctive are kakik de pavo ($11), a rich turkey soup spiced with allspice and coriander, and Pepian, made with breadcrumbs, tomatoes and chiles and chicken.
For a taste of several main dishes, try the Plato Amalia ($19). The good-sized sampler platter includes Carne Adobada—deliciously tangy pork marinated in Guatemalan spices; carne asada; local Longaniza sausage with pork, green onion and mint; and a chile relleno stuffed with ground meat and vegetables that’s lighter than the Mexican version. Alternate bites of the meats with flavorful refried black beans, fried plantains, guacamole and freshly-made corn tortillas.

Amalia’s, 751 N. Virgil Ave., 323-644-1515