Larchmont Larder: Catching up with a sweet spot

Eat on the sunny bungalow patio, or take home a whole dinner

I tend to be skeptical of prepared food-to-go operations -- either they're horribly expensive, like Joan's on Third, or everything tastes the same from sitting around in a refrigerated case too long. Besides, I can cook, so why would I let someone else roast a chicken for me? But I put my prejudices aside to check out the six month old Larchmont Larder, housed in an adorable craftsman bungalow near Melrose, because how nice would it be to stop by at 6:30, pick up a bag of food and arrive home at 7 with dinner already prepared? Very nice, it turns out, and my teenagers agreed that their $14 roast free range chicken and $5 container of roasted potatoes was as good as my home cooking, and without heating up the kitchen. We got a few meals out of the chicken, as well as ratatouille with lavender, a lovely beet/apple salad and a sturdy wheatberry salad with dried fruit. I might not ordinarily drop $40 on takeout food, but we did get several meals out of it, and the food all has fresh, distinct flavors with top quality ingredients. A few days later, I stopped by to pick up a Scandinavian sandwich on the way to work. Again, $10 for lunch at the office is out of my budget, but this was a luxurious sandwich made with house-cured gravlax, pickled onions and super-fresh pumpernickel, so it earned its keep. And did I mention the decor? I think people are just going to show the place to their kitchen designers and say, "Make it look just like this." With shiny white marble counters and open kitchen (above) with hanging copper pots -- everything is fresh and pretty, just like the food. Use it as your pantry for emergency dinner parties (individual entrees range from Moroccan chicken to grilled salmon) or picnics, or just stop by for breakfast or lunch -- either way it's hard not to like the Larder. They could probably clone the place, drop it onto Hillhurst Ave. and make a killing.
Maybe their slogan could be: the Larchmont Larder -- when you're too rich to cook.
Larchmont Larder
626 No. Larchmont Boulevard
323-962-9900 phone

La Guera Tamalera: Insanely good tamales from a white girl

A ginger-peach sweet tamale and a wrapped fignana tamale

I wrote about La Guera Tamalera, the White Girl Tamale Maker right after I met her at a tamale making class so that people could order tamales in time for Christmas. I finally got to try them when she kindly dropped some off the other day. Deborah learned how to make tamales from a family in Veracruz, Mexico, and that's why her tamales are tied on the ends, because that's the Veracruz style.
Maybe it's because I'm a white girl too, but these are my favorite tamales, like, ever. Don't get me wrong -- I love all the traditional pork tamale fillings, masa made with lard and all that, but I don't often eat those kind of tamales because they're just too filling and heavy for this white girl. These tamales are completely different -- the organic, non-GMO masa is light and has its own distinctly nutty flavor, rather than just being an enclosure for the filling. I tried:
Chicken: this flavorful filling is made with free-range chicken in a tomatillo sauce,
Spinach and shitake mushroom: A vegan variety that I liked even better than the chicken; have one of each for a complete meal of veggies and meat.
Sweet tamales were even better, and made a wonderful breakfast fresh out of the steamer.
Fignana: The fig part is subtle; this one is basically like the best super-moist piece of banana bread you've ever had.
Peach/ginger: This was my favorite, since it had that tangy thing going on with the sweet, earthy masa. It's like a fruity gingerbread.
La Guera's other flavors include locally-raised pork in red sauce, jalapeno & cheese and butternut squash.
While Deborah makes appearances everywhere from The Verdugo to the Atwater Christmas Festival, right now home delivery is the best option, at $58 a dozen. They will also be available at Locali on Franklin when it opens in the next few weeks.

Ask EatingLA: Taco catering for a wedding?

When I appeared with the other editors of EAT: Los Angeles: The Food Lover's Guide to Los Angeles on KPCC's Airtalk Friday, a caller asked about hiring a taco truck to cater a wedding. What a great idea! However most people end up going with a taco table catering service, as it is more difficult to get the trucks to travel to events. Here's a few ideas:
We tried tacos from Pauline's at the Frogtown Art Walk and they were very good. Pauline's Food Service's numbers are 310-885-9663, 310-631-1647 or 213-840-3643.

Here's a Chowhound thread with lots of information about Lety's and a few others.

The Taco Zone truck is my favorite, and it has phone numbers for catering on the side, but I don't know of anyone who has hired them.

Does anyone know of a really good taco truck that will travel for parties?