Rivera's new menus: a pan-Latin tour

Softshell crab with arepas

Rivera's menu was already a fascinating combination of unexpected flavors, but many of chef John Sedlar's dishes, like the famous tortillas florales and moles, leaned towards Mexican traditions. Now Rivera has added several new menus combining Spanish and South American ideas. Many of Rivera's earlier dishes are now featured on the Conexiones menu, which connects Latin dishes to more modern California cuisine.

A recent blogger tasting introduced the new menus, and I was happy to see some dishes inspired by the trip to Tijuana that Sedlar came on with StreetGourmetLA and a group of bloggers, such as the hiromasa crudo with kumquats, above.

From the Conexiones menu, I loved the delicate flan de elote, with a lightly sweet corn custard in a pretty colored tamale wrapper. Another hit was a simple Ecuadorian crudo like the ones we tried at Tijuana's La Querencia, with slices of raw hiromasa fish, kumquats, Fresno chiles and chives, and Argentine wild

Cabeza de oro

mushroom carpaccio from the Latin American Samba menu, served in a similar style. From the Mexican Playa menu, we were a little bemused by the $50 Cabeza de Oro, a gold head figurine piled with foie gras, seafood and caviar. But Chile guero relleno -- a crab-stuffed tempura chile with a soy-spiked sauce, make a rich and savory appetizer, and  Columbian-style softshell crab comes with a bonus of petite Venezuelan corn arepas.
 
New desserts have been added, and the flavors of Xochimilco, an ancho chile cake with avocado mousse and pumpkin seed brittle, work together much better than they might sound.

More adventurous eaters should try Hielo y Fuego, a palate-cleansing dessert, a pure and fiery sorbet of poblano chiles with a port sauce that really gets the chile-activated endorphins going.
As Sedlar prepares to open R26 in the former Grace space, he's continuing to make Rivera downtown a worthwhile trip to discover Latin flavors in ways you never realized they could be combined -- and of course, a wonderful cocktail destination as well, with Julian Cox's mixology at work.
The various menus are served at different locations in the restaurant, so ask ahead when you make reservations. There's also an eight-course tasting menu available for $70 if ordered by the entire table.
Rivera Restaurant
1050 S. Flower St.
213-749-1460

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

Latin American desserts: Lots of ways to say Dulce de leche

Flan with guava shells, El Colmao

Panqueques with cajeta, Rincon Chileno

A dessert tour of Latin America? I was a little worried. Despite the fact that I know Bill "StreetgourmetLA" Esparza would never lead me astray (unless it involves tamarind margaritas), I had visions of tasteless starchy conchas from the bulk bin at the local Mexican market. But I showed up anyway at 9:30 on Saturday to see what he had in mind. In fact, we didn't hit any Mexican places on our tour of desserts of Latin America.
First up was Panaderia El Carriel, the most off-the-beaten path of the places we tried. The Huntington Park Columbian bakery is a tiny bare-bones place, but in addition to an array of only-in-Columbia pastries, it serves full Columbian breakfasts and lunches. We tried flaky chicharronitos filled with dulce de leche or cajeta milk caramel, called arequipe in Columbia; warm round bunuelos, tasting like fresh cake donut balls; pan de bono, small bagel-like savory cheese breads and arepa de choclo, a sweet corn-inflected disc sprinkled with cheese.
Next it was back to central L.A. to Amalia's on Virgil for Guatamalan sweets, where plantains are king. On the dessert menu were plantains stuffed with sweet black beans and crema (right); atol -- a hot, plantain-based drink and an unusual dessert mole, in which plantains swum in a cinnamon and chocolate-scented sweet mole sauce.

Fresh Colmbian bunuelos

Just down the street was Rincon Chileno, which I have been driving past for about 20 years never realizing I was missing out on Panqueques Celestino. These heavenly pancakes are thicker than crepes, heavily browned on the outside, sprinkled with powdered sugar and filled with rich dulce de leche, called manjar in Chile.

Running out of time, we had to regrettably skip Wood Spoon's Brazilian passion fruit mousse and press on to El Colmao, another longtime staple. Here we tried flan with guava shells, which were very sweet but paired well with a competent flan, and a less-common Cuban dessert of shaved sweetened coconut paired with Philadelphia cream cheese. Again, very sweet but I liked the unusual combo of creamy cheese and sweet coconut. While flavors like corn, plantain, dulce de leche and guava are common throughout Latin America, each country has a different and worthwhile take on how to present desserts. Next time you eat at a Latin American restaurant, save room for dessert!

Here's more pictures of Latin desserts and pastries from tourmate Elina Shatkin.

El Caserio: a trip to Ecuador via Italy

El Caserio: Eat at the sign of the dwarf

Silver Lake seems to specialize in restaurants with no signage, like Pho Cafe and Cliff's Edge, or restaurants that can be challenging to find the first time. The new upscale version of longtime Ecuadorian/Italian restaurant El Caserio is also tricky to find, even if you know that it's located in the former insurance company office next to the Hollywood freeway's Silver Lake Blvd. on-ramp. Just turn right on London -- when you see the lawn gnome holding an "Open" sign, open the ornately-carved heavy wooden door, and you're there. The office building has been transformed into a pleasant space with a large glassed-in patio.
One of just a handful of Ecuadorian restaurants in all of Los Angeles, El Caserio's specialties are similar to some Peruvian dishes, but with a twist that often involves peanut sauce. The Ecuadorian dishes don't do a fusion thing with the Italian food -- there's a separate pasta section of the menu, and desserts like cannoli and tiramisu. Despite the blown glass chandeliers and full cocktail menu, Ecuadorian cooking is still homey and rustic no matter how you tart it up.
We started with super-crispy fresh empanadas, stuffed with chicken, beef and cheese, perfect with some spicy aji sauce. Other Ecuadorian starters include humitas (corn and cheese tamales) shrimp ceviche, and a soup called locro de papas, with potatoes, feta cheese and avocado. As in Peruvian cuisine, potatoes are ubiquitous -- if you haven't had a saltado before, it's an Asian-influenced stir fry of shrimp or beef with a soy-based sauce, sauteed with onions, tomatoes and French fries. Strangely enough, it works, although with a scoop of buttery rice on the side, it might approach starch overload. Saltados are also available with tallarines, akin to Italian tagliatelle noodles, instead of fries.
For a real Ecuadorian experience, try the Seco de chivo. The boneless goat isn't at all gamey, more like a tender pork dish, and is served in a beer-laced red sauce that's a bit too salty, but about right after it's mixed with the rice on the side. Llapingachos con fritada are one of the more unusual Ecuadorian dishes: potato patties are served with pork ribs, garlic and onions, topped with an egg over easy, topped with peanut sauce. There's a full cocktail menu mojitos, caipirinhas and the like; fruit juices and South American sodas.
El Caserio is a fun change of pace, but it comes at a price comparable to mid-range Italian restaurants in the area. Pastas are $12-16 and main courses $14-28, so don't expect a funky "ethnic" experience -- this is Ecuador/Italy deluxe.
El Caserio, 401 Silver Lake Blvd., 213-273-8945

Taste test: El Cochinto

Ever since the revolution or thereabouts, Silver Lake has had a major concentration of Cuban settlers. I'm not sure if the old men still sit around puffing cigars at Cafe Tropical like they did when I first moved to Silver Lake, but it practically felt like Little Havana around here back then. You can still get a taste of Cuba at El Cochinito on Sunset. Since I last ate there 16 or so years ago, the room has been freshened up. It's still simple inside, but with fresh paint and new tables, the small space is pleasant and clean. It's such a neighborly place that there's an autographed headshot of our old neighbor, Dominican actor Juan Fernandez, on the wall.
The server helpfully explains all the specials, which include red snapper, swordfish, halibut and grilled shrimp. I get the shrimp with an ultra-garlicky sauce, which is rather salty but balances out a bit after mixing it with some rice and black beans. Matt has a healthy-sized portion of ropa vieja and we're both happy, snacking on some fried tostones as well.
Although we set off looking for Mexican food, we're both glad we tried something different, and we'll be returning soon for the breaded steak and some more fish or chicken dishes. The service is super friendly, and all the dishes are around $10-$12 including rice and beans. They even have beer.
Verdict: I like the food at Alegria, but after several bad experiences with the service I just don't have the energy for it anymore. Save the stress and the wait and go next door to El Cochinito instead for a down-home Cuban feast. Get there before 8:30 though, as they close up pretty early.
El Cochinito
3508 W. Sunset Blvd.
323-668-0737
(thanks to Cuban Food USA for the picture of the tostones!)