Toons and tipples: Tasting Lasseter wines at Patina

 Pixar founder John Lasseter and his wife Nancy have been wine lovers almost as long as they've been animation buffs. They started making wine after moving to Sonoma County in 1993 -- just before "Toy Story" catapulted Pixar into the animation big leagues. Nancy is the force behind Lasseter Family Winery, the Glen Ellen winery that makes wines influenced by their love of the French countryside: Enjoue, a Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre rosé and three red blends called Paysage, Amoreux and Chemin de Fer. We tried all four at a Lasseter dinner at Patina the Friday before the Oscars.
Did you know that some people are such ardent Disney/Pixar fans that they'll drive from Orange County for a $130 dinner at Patina just to dine in the presence of Lasseter? Nope, neither did I, yet it does seem like a much better deal than, say, eating at Disney's Club 33. Plus, John and Nancy are extremely gracious hosts, circulating around the tables and freely sharing stories of their Sonoma county honeymoon and trip to France's Bandol region after the Cannes premiere of "Up."
Drinking the rosé with Patina chef Tony Esnault's marinated kampachi with tangy green apple mustard took me straight back to Cannes, too. All three reds are very drinkable, not terribly complex but easy to pair with lots of dishes. Paysage, a Merlot-predominant blend with cabernet, malbec and cabernet franc, was my favorite, a fine pairing with Esnault's deeply beef-flavored sous-vide shortribs.
Lasseter Family Winery is now open by appointment for tastings in Glen Ellen, near the town of Sonoma, and the wines are available at most Patina restaurants and at Flask Fine Wines in Studio City.

Help make backyard bread legal -- pass the Calif. homemade food act!

Mark Stambler's rustic Pagnol loaf

Silver Lake food artisans are on the cutting edge of making urban agriculture pay off and benefit makers and consumers, but local laws often try to prevent their activities.
Silver Lake Farms' proprietor Tara Kolla kicked off the push to pass Los Angeles' Food and Flowers Freedom Act in 2010 so she could sell flowers and fruit, while Forage was at first blocked from accepting home produce but then started the Home Growers Program to help neighborhood gardeners get certified to contribute to the restaurant.
Now Mark Stambler, whose delicious Pagnol bread was covered by EatingLA in 2010, is at the forefront of trying to pass the statewide California Homemade Food Act. Mark appears on the Eat: LA segment on KPCC's Off-Ramp this week talking about the bill introduced by Silver Lake assemblyman Mike Gatto.
This bill isn't just for Silver Lake, though -- it's high time that the entire state's jam makers, granola blenders, coffee roasters and candy makers are able to sell homemade products at farmer's markets and elsewhere. More than a dozen states already allow this, so there's no reason California shouldn't get with the program. You can help by signing the petition on the Cottage Food Law website, and let your assembly members know you have an interest in this bill. Here's some local assembly members, who all have contact forms on their websites:
Mike Gatto -- assembly member for Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Glendale, Burbank
Anthony Portantino -- assembly member for Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Alta Dena, South Pasadena

Gil Cedillo -- assembly member for Silver Lake, Echo Park, Downtown

Plan Check: Avoid that soggy bun with ketchup leather

Plan Check burger

Plan Check opened today on Sawtelle Blvd., and as one of the few non-Japanese restaurants on the strip, it needs to rock a few great hamburgers to be a respectable gastropub. So chef Ernesto Uchimura, former executive chef at Umami Burger, has created ketchup leather, a solidified sheet of ketchup that locks the tomato flavor in place without saturating the Portuguese-style bun. Like the Umami burger, the Plan Check burger sports a shiitake mushroom topper and a deeply beefy flavor. And while Umami burgers are topped with specially-made cheese slices, at Plan Check (blueprint-themed, and named for the nearby L.A. Building and Safety Department), it's the ketchup leather that draws attention. There's also the Bleuprint burger, with blue cheese and pig candy, and the Chef's favorite burger, with two cheeses, two types of bacon, and a fried egg. We were invited to try a few dishes from the menu, including the ultra-crunchy fried chicken with pickled okra and fries made with beef tallow. Yes, this is hearty and rich food, made for enjoying with Japanese beer on tap and some fine rye whiskeys.
With a great sidewalk patio, reasonable food prices and a Japanese-accented cocktail menu by the ubiquitous Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix, Plan Check looks sure to be a popular alternative to the ramen and sushi spots. And don't miss the perfectly puckery Little Osaka Sour cocktail, with bourbon, plum wine, lemon and egg white.
Plan Check Bar, 1800 Sawtelle Blvd., West L.A.

Maxmiliano does brunch, for your next Highland Park bacchanal

smoked salmon eggs Benedict

In retrospect, we should have walked both to Maxmiliano and back for brunch, although that would have come to four miles. But we had certainly worked up an appetite after walking the two miles there, so I didn't hesitate to immediately order a breakfast pizza, with potatoes, two baked eggs, bacon, pancetta, and sausage. It's not as overwhelming as it sounds -- the crust is thin and the toppings are judicious.

breakfast pizza

The pizza could maybe use a few herbs or chiles to give it some pop, but the combination of breakfasty toppings was just right.

Ordering our other dish was harder, because unlike many breakfast spots, there were several things I wanted to try. Matt voted for baked cinnamon raisin French toast or pastrami hash, and I would have been happy with the ricotta pancake with lemon curd and blueberries, the quinoa with kale and eggs, or pretty much everything else. But I can never pass up eggs Benedict, so we went with the smoked salmon version since we already had three kinds of pork on the pizza.

applewood-smoked bacon

 Oh, and a side of thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, just because. Maxmiliano makes all its baked goods on the premises (a freestanding bakery is coming next door later on) and we sampled the lemon-rosemary bread. More like a dense, rich bundt cake than a bread, I was scraping every lemony crumb off my plate.Pastry-lovers can order a basket of assorted baked goods for $8, and after tasting the lemon bread, I think it would be worth a try.

Lemon-rosemary bread

 Eggs Benedict came with country potatoes, and the high point was the homemade English muffins. Charred a bit on the grill, they elevated the familiar dish which went well with the house-smoked salmon for a slightly lighter touch.
I'm kind of embarrassed to say that Maxmiliano hosted us once again. But I really do think the restaurant is a big asset to the neighborhood, and I'm glad to have such interesting brunch selections right down the street. Once the patio is opened, it will be the perfect summer boozy brunch spot.
Here's most of the brunch menu; there's also bottomless Intelligentsia, natch, and the possibility of Mimosas or craft beer, yay!
Maxmiliano is at 5930 York Blvd. in Highland Park and brunch is from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Maxmiliano brunch
Vanilla-Fig Yogurt with granola and berries  Small 5 Large 8
Baker's Bread Box 8 -  selection of breakfast pastries
Breakfast pizza: Fingerling potatoes, applewood bacon confit, fennel sausage, mozzarella,
Baked Eggs, pancetta, fingerling potatoes, spinach, breadcrumbs 12
Crab Cakes with spinach, poached eggs, sauce Chicoron 16
Ricotta Pancake with lemon curd, blueberries 8
Baked Cinnamon Raisin French Toast with maple syrup 8
Florentine (choice of eggs or tofu scramble) with country potatoes & sautéed spinach 10
Eggs Benedict with country potatoes - choice of applewood bacon confit 12 or house smoked salmon 14
Pulled Pork, Asiago biscuit, poached eggs, country gravy 11
Quinoa with Tuscan kale, butternut squash, eggs 9
Carbonara Pasta, bacon confit, poached egg 12
Fennel Sausage Crumble with sautéed peppers, onion, fingerling potatoes & eggs 12
House Smoked Salmon with a toasted bagel, cream cheese, red onion, capers 14

Soba-Ya: hand-cut soba Monday and Tuesday

hand cut soba with mushroom dipping sauce

Common Grains sounds like it could be an earnest hippie-owned bakery, but it's actually a cultural project. The Japanese rice company Shinmei is backing the project to showcase a diversity of grains to Americans, in partnership with Sonoko Sakai, a film producer and expert maker of handmade Japanese buckwheat noodles or soba.
The Common Grains soba and sake tasting at Silver Lake Wine today is sold out, but you can still get a hand-cut soba fix at Soba-Ya in Torrance Monday and Tuesday from 5-9 p.m. The soba is has a higher percentage of buckwheat flour than is found in commercial soba, so it's full of flavor with much less gluten and regular wheat flour than other pasta. (Buckwheat is not related to wheat but is in the same family as rhubarb and sorrel.) We tasted the hand-cut soba at the Atwater Crossing pop-up, and the noodles are full of spring and character, with a pleasantly earthy note.
Try to fit in a visit to Soba-Ya while the pop-up is going on, but if not, the new Soba-Ya restaurant will continue serving hand-made, but not hand-cut noodles after Tuesday.
Here's more on Soba-Ya's menu from Gourmet Pigs.

Soba-Ya, 1757 W. Carson Street, Suite R & S, Torrance, 310.782.7356

Blue Cow Kitchen & Bar: Bring on the vegetables...and cocktails

Roots and berries salad

What: Sandwich wizards Mendocino Farms grows up into Blue Cow, a full bar and restaurant.

Where: 350 S. Grand, Downtown (California Plaza, across from Starry Kitchen)
What to get: Lamb Lavash, Spanish Chicken Tartine, Smoked Brassica, Root Salad, Smoked Pecan Bourbon Old-Fashioned.
When: Opening Monday Feb. 13 or thereabouts
Who: Mario Del Pero and Ellen Chen, owners; Josh Smith, Judy Han, chefs
Why: Mendocino Farms is known for its meaty sandwiches and burgers -- decadent choices like French Onion Short Rib dip or Kurobata pork banh mi. The newly-opened Blue Cow, in California Plaza Downtown, replaces the smaller Mendocino Farms in the plaza with a full service restaurant complete with attractive indoor-outdoor cocktail bar, all the familiar sandwiches with new appetizers, salads and main dishes like steak frites. We were invited to try out the restaurant before its opening next week, and for me the stars were the vegetables.

BBQ'ed brassica

 I've been craving more vegetables, and Blue Cow filled the bill with BBQ'ed Brassicas -- broccoli and cauliflower smoked in a paper bag, and Roots and Berries with shaved roasted root vegetables, wheatberries and quinoa.
Blue Cow has master mixologist Steve Livigni consulting on cocktails, and we got a taste of his pecan-infused whiskey that makes a smooth and smoky Old Fashioned with custom Miracle Mile pecan bitters. He also concocts unusual ideas like a Cherry Rickey Soda with lambic beer, lime vodka and genever liqueur or a Belgian Tripel Beer Cocktail with Scotch, apple and lemon, that somehow end up tasting just right.
Blue Cow's mission is to marry seasonal produce and carefully-sourced meats with reasonable prices and big but accessible flavors, and so far the restaurant looks like a big improvement on Casa, which never quite caught on in the space.
The outdoor patio is large and pleasant, considering its location in the rather sterile California Plaza, with a big tree anchoring the corner and some good beer selections on tap (Lil Yella Pilsner, Boont Amber, Sublimely Self-Righteous Black, Racer 5, Straffe Hendrik Quadruple).

much more room for lunchtime crowds

 Indoors, amusing touches like vintage mixers re- imagined as filament light fixtures, historic photos from Del Pero's family butcher shop and the treasured family meat cleaver carry out the farm theme with a light and stylish look.

bar snacks

Fun bar snacks include sweet and salty nuts and caramel corn; thin crispy root vegetable chips and and shrimp chips with furikake. While Blue Cow strives to keep prices moderate, the menu is full of clever thoughts like homemade flatbread for the Lamb Lavash meatballs, mozzarella mousse with the beet salad as a tasty, cost-effective answer to burrata, and Vietnamese banh xeo pancakes re-imagined as taco-like holders for savory pork belly.

lamb lavosh meatball sandwich

 And wasn't someone just looking for a Ploughman's Lunch? They've got it, complete with sausage, deviled eggs, pickles, pimento cheese toast and a glass of Alimony IPA.
California Plaza can be a little dead at night, but Blue Cow is definitely ready to change the dynamic, since it will be open until 10 pm and the patio is sure to be hopping, especially in summer.

Abricott is a juicy choice for Pasadena

Is this the coziest lunch spot in all of Pasadena?

You can mostly forget Old Town Pasadena for decent food, but thank goodness, other areas of town such as Lake Ave. are starting to really improve with solid casual spots like Cham Korean Bistro.
Daisy Mint was one of the first of such nouveau Pasadena spots, and now the same owners have opened Abricott.


With two hours of free parking in the giant lot behind and a roomy patio in front, this is a fine location for a charmingly decorated, versatile French/Asian-influenced cafe with breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will help if you're a pork belly fan, since the piggy treat is available in two smoky banh mi style sandwiches, as an entree or added atop a burger.
The menu has more Western dishes than Daisy Mint's, but still with Asian touches. At the table next to us, some people had beef pho, while others had chicken curry and one had a strawberry-banana waffle with whipped cream for lunch. Breakfast is served to 3 pm every day, with choices including Eggs Benedict with ham or smoked salmon; Vietnamese style sizzling eggs with soy, green onion, baguette and curried potatoes; waffles or croque monsieur and madame.

Grilled trout and green papaya salad (above) was simple but healthy and refreshing, while the spicy pork belly sandwich ($8) packed a kick with kimchi tucked into the baguette. Baked goods include the signature apricot croissant, which I'm sure I'll be back to try, and some winsome tarts and crumbles. At dinner, steak and other heartier dishes join the menu. (Daisy Mint has no corkage, so it's possibly Abricott will have the same policy.)
The decor is adorable, with lots of books, mirrors, picture frames and chandeliers warming up the former Koo Koo Roo location. A private dining room in the back would be just the place for a small party or work lunch.
See breakfast and lunch menus and more photos here.

Abricott 238 S. Lake Ave. Pasadena
(626)796-1613

Mohawk Bend in the Los Feliz Ledger: Make that a pound of mussels

I reviewed Mohawk Bend for the Los Feliz Ledger this month; back when I wrote the review they were doing all you can eat pizza on Mondays but that plan is no more. Now Wednesdays are Pint and a Pound night, when $15 gets you a pint of Golden Road Brewing beer and a pound of steamed mussels or vegetables and couscous. Here's an excerpt from the review:

Nicely fried cod in an IPA beer batter ($14) has a lighter crust than some and the caper aioli makes a zingy topping. The Kennebec potato’s flavor comes through in the fries, which can also be ordered as a side with Japanese togarashi seasoning or rosemary gremolata.
Pizzas are whimsically named: Salad Daze has avocado and lettuce, while Pig Newton ($14) has Serrano ham, fig tapenade and goat cheese. The crust has a good yeasty flavor, so keep the toppings simple for optimum flavor. The attention to local ingredients is appreciated, though the food is fairly basic. ...Mohawk Bend is a temple to beer and a versatile spot for festive eaters and drinkers.