Taste test: Elf Cafe

I went to Elf Cafe a month or two ago, but just now got around to writing about it. Here's some of my review from the Los Feliz Ledger.
Out front on Sunset Blvd., a punked-out young couple enjoy a leisurely dinner while their infant slumbers away in a designer stroller. Several parties show up with wine bottles in hand, taking advantage of the $5 corkage and quickly filling the restaurant's nine tables.
Right now, Elf is the quintessential Echo Park restaurant: no sign in front, deer line drawings on the front of the organic menu, no reservations, cash only. The owners also have a band, Eastern music-meets-electropop act Viva K. Despite the rather precious trappings, the service is genuinely friendly and attentive and the food is clearly made with care as well. Chef Timothy Maloof, who also runs a packaged raw food business out of the space, is from a Lebanese background, but the menu ranges beyond the Middle East to a few Greek-inspired dishes, Moroccan vegetable tagine and French vegetable tarts. It's homey food, like you might have whipped up in your kitchen if you had all morning to spend at the farmer's market. Some dishes have a hint of hippie cooking, like a sturdy brown rice pilaf with the roasted fennel and beet plate. Others are light and modern, like the cool Greek cucumber and dill-laced yogurt soup that helps cool off a warm summer night. Elf's Greek white lasagna, a version of pastitsio, is satisfying with garbanzo beans and potatoes standing in for the usual ground lamb, a good choice for those used to meaty dishes. Confirmed greens lovers will like the kale salad with avocado, hemp seeds and a bright citrus dressing, although it might be easier to eat with smaller pieces of kale. As the restaurant evolves, the chef might try varying the ingredients more with the seasons (an autumnal pear tart stays on the menu even in prime summer fruit season) and creating some more imaginative presentations, but for now it's enough just to have a pleasant restaurant in the neighborhood. And it couldn't be more adorable, from the elfin band member/servers to the pierced parents on the sidewalk.
Dinner for two with two starters, two mains and one dessert ran about $60, reasonable enough for the organic origins and attentive service.
Elf Cafe, 2135 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park (no phone)

Vegans: Pedantic and pretentious, or just healthy?

Chowhounders nearly came to virtual blows recently over Echo Park's tiny Elf Cafe. Although most posters seem to like the vegan, vegetarian and raw food, debate rages over whether the owners and clientele are, variously, "a little too hip," "freak folk" and "hipstery pretentious." The owners have the local band Viva K, which does not seem particularly freak folk. I haven't gotten to Elf Cafe yet -- they're only open Wednesday to Sunday evenings -- but I'll try to report back soon.

Taste test: Lucking out at Pure Luck

Life Elf Cafe in Echo Park, the Pure Luck is one of those places that could exist only on the near-Eastside at this point in time: a groovy vegan cafe with a loyal retinue of perfectly-scruffed young patrons sporting heavy tattoage, ironic eyewear and much facial hair, which just happens to have a killer beer list. Real old-timers will remember that the old building that houses the Pure Luck used to be Cafe Mambo, a happening Latino-style diner owned by the Cha Cha Cha family. Well, it's happening again, but instead of chorizo and eggs, this time it's jackfruit carnitas (below left), one of the wonders of the vegan world with which I was not previously acquainted. You can keep your mock meats and such, because jackfruit carnitas tacos are strangely tasty and meaty, if perhaps a bit protein-deficient. I can never remember where to go when I want a big salad, but Pure Luck's salad selection sounded promising. There's also burritos, wraps, tacos, tortas and and an array of snacks to help sop up the beer. We tried the fried dill pickle chips (right) served with barbecue sauce, which I devoured scary fast, and the sweet potato fries with a sweet mustard dip, which were kind of limp. Beers are top-notch, including the Anvil ESB, one of my favorites, and the Stone Smoked Porter. Fortunately Pure Luck sees the wisdom of offering half-pints so you can try a few varieties. There's also a tamarind/lime/soju cocktail that looks pretty good.
Verdict: Super cute, with some good dishes. I wish it was a bit more pub-like with lower lighting; instead it has more of a vegan diner feeling. Make sure to hit Scoops across the street afterwards for dessert.
Pure Luck
707 N. Heliotrope
(323) 660-5993
(lunch and dinner, closed Sunday)

Domenico: A touch of class in Silver Lake

Beet tortelli at Domenico

If Elf Cafe is the ultimate new Echo Park restaurant -- earthy, earnest, filled with bearded guys and deer etchings -- then Domenico is emblematic of moneyed, older Silver Lake, where even modest houses are still going for a cool million. What the two restaurants do share is friendly, attentive service and the ability to bring your own wine, with no corkage. The interior of Domenico looks much better than when it was Michelangelo, very white and elegant. But most people want the sidewalk tables -- despite the occasional firetruck or dogfight, they feel more airy and happening (You might even have a Miranda July sighting, like we did.) Despite a few uneven dishes, there's something about Domenico that briefly gives you the illusion of eating in a cafe somewhere like Cannes, which is a pretty seductive illusion.
Owner Domenico Frasca was a former waiter at Drago, while his chef Michael Young has also cooked at Italian establishments around town. We first met Domenico at a special tasting dinner for writers, but the restaurant had such a pleasant feel I returned on my own dime a few weeks later for a friend's birthday. Many Italian menus make me scream with boredom, but Young's menu is quite a bit more interesting than the usual. Most of the pastas are homemade, and they're much better than the nettle risotto we tried.

Beet tortelli isn't as sweet as the more familiar squash tortelli, but it has a similar taste with a lovely purple hue. They do a nice job with fried zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies, but the Caesar salad was a very sorry specimen with brown lettuce served on a warm plate. Lasagna with oxtails (above) is complex but not too heavy, but if they have a special of cavatelli with Spanish octopus, do not miss it. Whole grilled sea bass with rapini lets you continue the cafe-in-a-Mediterranean seaport fantasy a bit longer, but it's not that exciting. A special of Niman Ranch pork short ribs with blood orange is much better: not terribly Italian, but full of deep, porky flavor.
The verdict? As S. Irene said, Domenico is a big step forward for Silver Lake, and parts of the menu are quite good, while others need more work. But the service is excellent and the setting is pleasant, so try some homemade pasta and see for yourself. Prices are on the higher side -- our dinner of salad, two pastas and one main was $80. Bringing your own wine helps, although they expect to have a liquor license soon.
Domenico
1637 Silver Lake Blvd.
323-661-6166

Asking Eating L.A.: Best Echo Park restaurant?

Liz and Nina ask, "Which Echo Park restaurant do you like the most? I know there are at least 3 new ones (15, Lot 1, Park) ? Do you have a preference?"

So far, I'd have to go with The Park. I also think Elf Cafe is awfully sweet, even if the cooking isn't the most sophisticated. However, I haven't gotten to Lot 1 yet -- I've been waiting for them to straighten out the air conditioning issues and get a liquor license. Columnist Joel Stein told me the other night that he had a wonderful meal there, but wasn't so crazy about the rest of the trappings.

I've been to 15 twice, and although it certainly provided a good alternative when it was practically the only decent restaurant in the area, the food isn't very original and it feels kind of bland and corporate. Oh, and the $15 before 7:00 special just went up to $19.

I reviewed The Park for the Los Feliz Ledger last month. Here's some of the review:

The Park strikes the right balance between funky Echo Park and gentrifying Echo Park, although decor verges on the overly minimalist. The bonus is that with free corkage, diners can bring good wine and eat lavishly for around $60 a couple.
While the menu ambitiously runs the gamut of pastas, Latin-inflected dishes, vegetarian selections and comfort food, it's remarkably successful for the range it covers.
Don't miss the mini cornmeal pancakes with seared shrimp as an appetizer; the chipotle butter pairs nicely with the gently sweet pancakes. A hamburger or homemade veggie burger is just $10 for the basic version; add cheeses, bacon or mushrooms for $1 per topping. Super-skinny fries are nicely browned. A special of duck confit is a meltingly tender portion paired with a soft tamale filled with rajas (mild chile strips) and savory onions. The chef pulls off the Southwestern-style dish admirably, and the duck falls away from the bone with no tiresome excavating involved. A peach cobbler special with vanilla ice cream is serviceable but could be more flavorful. Service is friendly if a little awkward -- one server enthusiastically announces "Ta-da!" each time she presents a dish to the table.
The Park has its finger on the pulse of Echo Park -- tasty but not pretentious, with a dash of Latin flavor and several nods to vegetarians.

As for the older spots, I used to like Barragan's but suffered digestive distress from the greasy tacos last time I went there. Freres Taix is a great historic spot but the food is blah, and Masa is terribly inconsistent, although it has its fans. Anyone brave enough to try Phnom Penh?

Celebrate EatingLA's 6th blogiversary Friday at Ricky's Fish Tacos

Thanks to CarolineonCrack, who celebrated her 5th blogiversary this week, I remembered that it's also EatingLA's 6th blogiversary this week. I'm celebrating with lunch Friday at Ricky's Fish Tacos from 12:30 - 2. There will be cupcakes, free fish tacos for the first 25 readers, friends and supporters, and muy special aguas frescas. Please come by Ricky's at 1400 N. Virgil and help celebrate six years of EatingLA, which I started to help people find good food in Silver Lake, the near-Eastside and beyond.

Ricky's Fish Tacos are at 1400 N. Virgil in Silver Lake

Here's what it was like back in 2004..

• It was a time before there was Twitter, Yelp or Facebook, before there was EaterLA, before there were other local.food blogs. Outside of Jonathan Gold and the L.A. Times, there was only Chowhound for more democratic discussion of restaurants.

• Only the very brave ate at taco trucks. In fact, EatingLA didn't mention them until 2006, when I started frequenting the Taco Zone on Alvarado.
• Gourmet cupcakes were unheard-of. When I first saw the fad mounting in 2005, I predicted it would soon die out. Wrong again. 
• There was basically nowhere to get good craft beers that was closer than Father's Office or the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica, and there was no such thing as mixology.
• There was no Pinkberry, and frozen yogurt was thought to be a long-dead fad that would never be revived.
• Some neighborhoods, like Echo Park and Atwater, had basically zero places to eat weren't old-timers that mostly seen better days. It was before The Park, Masa, Allston Yacht Club, Elf Cafe, LaMill, Intelligentsia, Pazzo Gelato, Forage, Canele, Local and a zillion others that have really livened up the eating scene.

Guess we've come a pretty long way...happy next decade!

Yet more vegan fare in Silver Lake

While ordering carne asada tacos at El Siete Mares over the weekend, we noticed that Cardone's Deli on Sunset has been replaced by a new place called The Vegan Spot. Don't get us wrong, we like some green stuff in-between liberal doses of carne asada. In fact, the post before this was about the Pure Luck, and the one after this will be about the new M Cafe de Chaya in Culver City. But there are seriously a lot of vegan places in Silver Lake and Echo Park already. (Cru, Flore Cafe, Elf, at least four Thai places, etc.) So we're just wondering, are there really that many vegans on the near-Eastside? Are there substantially more than in other areas, because the concentration of vegstaurants seems denser, kind of like the mac 'n fake cheese at some of these places.