Casa Bianca Pizza's old-school charm: The classics series

The pizza you grew up with often becomes your platonic ideal of pizza. In my case, that would probably be Di Vita's, which still turns out a credible pie in West L.A. Or maybe it was the pizza you ate in college -- our go-to place was The Brass Ass, which must have piled several pounds of mozzarella on each pizza, but went down well with endless pitchers of Michelob.
So I didn't grow up with Casa Bianca Pizza in Eagle Rock, though half the people I know seem to have -- it's been there since 1955. I've grown impatient with the hallmarks of places that have become institutions -- some of the indicators are long waits, cash only policies, lots of reviews plastered on the wall and sometimes food that's a few decades past its prime. Casa Bianca is indeed cash-only, with a punishing wait unless you do takeout. But the pizza is as good as ever, so its reputation is justified.
The people: During the inevitable wait, you'll get to check out the full array of Eagle Rock area pizza lovers, from groups of elderly smoking Russians to smoking suburban middle-aged white couples (the place seems to draw smokers, who knows why) to young rockabilly couples who look to have much more exciting plans for after dinner.

The rest of the menu: Casa Bianca not only has beer and wine, they've recently added a couple of craft beers to their list. There's a large menu of pastas and main dishes, but I don't know anyone who orders them -- you're there for the pizza. But it takes a while to come out, so it's probably a good idea to get an antipasto salad for the table to share while you're waiting.
The pizza: Get the thin crust, preferably with the homemade sausage, flavored with plenty of fennel seeds. Skip the canned mushrooms -- if you want another topping, try olives or garlic. The cheese, sauce and toppings are perfectly proportioned, and the crust is just the right thickness to support it all. The crust isn't as flavorful as at the new wild yeast, wood-fired places, but Casa Bianca is more about the right interplay between the ingredients. The toppings and sauce continue right to the edge of the pizza, a divisive issue. If the crust is really good on it's own, then the little ledge of dough can be a nice treat at the end of the slice. If it's undistinguished, as at Casa Bianca, then by all means, take it to the edge. This is not a sophisticated pizza, but your table will likely devour the delicious, strangely-cut pieces before you even have a chance to contemplate where Casa Bianca falls on L.A.'s new pizza map.
The details: Go early. Bring cash. And remember, pizza is usually better when consumed on-site instead of to-go.
Casa Bianca
1650 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
323- 256-9617

Edendale Grill: Eight years in, it's still a work in progress

The Edendale Grill back when it was a fire station

This month's Los Feliz Ledger took me back to the Edendale Grill, which recently changed ownership. There's a new menu and a few tweaks inside, but the same problems remain: there's enough business from the bar that food is an afterthought -- too expensive for a not-very-interesting meal. But even the bar side could use a tuneup -- the beer selection is pitiful, wine service is non-existent and while the classic cocktails are fine, they could be doing a lot more with modern mixology.
The review was trimmed for space (or snarkiness?), so here's the rest of the piece. I'm not trying to take anyone down -- just wishing this was a place that I looked forward to eating at.

Silver Lake's Edendale Grill: Love the space, wish I loved the food.
Whether Edendale is more of a bar or has ambitions to be a real restaurant, it's not particularly good at either. The bartenders always seem to have fans, but the wine and beer list could use serious work. Wine from a middling list is even harder to enjoy served in cheap, heavy glasses. With nearly every bar and restaurant in town seriously stepping up its beer program, the best Edendale can offer is Racer 5 and Stella valiantly holding down a list of bland commercial brews. Special cocktails are on the overwrought side, though the standard ones are fine.
The restaurant recently changed hands, with former bartender Eddie Ebell taking over from longtime owner Melanie Tusquellas. Ebell kept the former chef but changed up the menu a bit, adding more contemporary-sounding dishes like wild blue crab salad, pork confit sopes and quail eggs on toast with proscuitto. The longtime tableside Caesar is gone, replaced by salads like pear, stilton and butter lettuce with a curiously flavorless lemon tarragon dressing. Alas, adding burrata cheese and pea tendrils to a menu isn't always enough, as the food continues to hover between competent and careless. Sea bass with grilled eggplant ($19) is a perfectly fine piece of fish. But a Harris Ranch burger requested medium rare has to be sent back since it's basically raw, and the rare replacement tastes only of blood with no apparent seasoning. It comes with fries that are just ok. Considering the huge number of non-meat eaters in the area, there could be more choices than salad, mac 'n cheese or veggie sopes.
But Ebell hasn't been overseeing the place for long, so maybe there's still hope. In case he's wondering how to get a little more respect in the neighborhood and sell more than just fried calamari at the bar, here's a few suggestions:
1) Locals appreciate the historic character, but they'd like to love the food as much. Bring in some guest chefs to stir things up, and ask patrons what they'd like to eat.
2) If it's really more of a bar, then go gastropub. Craft a killer beer list, add some taps, get some decent wineglasses and enlist a local wine store for advice on the wine list. Add a great burger (for $14, it better be excellent), learn to make irresistible fries, and add fish 'n chips or good pizza or reasonably priced small plates ($15 for tuna tartare?).
3) Continue to transform the inner dining room into a livelier space. Add some art and flowers, let people drink there even if they're not eating and make sure service keeps pace.

Brent's Deli is the real deal: The classic series

Complete with revolving dessert case and comfy booths, Brent's has the right deli look.

I grew up eating at Nate 'n Al's, so that's pretty much my reference point for delis. But the Chowhounds and everyone else say Brent's Deli has an edge on Nate 'n Al's, so when I had to be near Northridge for a family occasion, it seemed like high time to see what all the fuss was about. My sister was visiting from Berkeley, where she lives a short walk from Chez Panisse and the Cheese Board, but miles from any decent deli. Walking into Brent's, the aroma of a classic deli is instantly evident: lox mingling with salami mingling with rye bread and pickles.

Brent's brisket sandwich - just add a touch of brown mustard.

The menu is vast, with an odd "specialty items" section that encompasses both tacos and potato pancakes, stir-fry and blintzes. Langer's pastrami is the best, but I ordered a brisket sandwich for proper comparison with Nate 'n Al's.

Can't decide? Try the egg salad/chopped liver combo.

My sister went with an egg salad/chopped liver combo, which seemed an inspired combination. Brent's rye bread seems darker than Langer's or Nate 'n Al's, and it has a nice crunchy crust. Like Nate 'n Al's, the brisket is a touch dry before brown mustard is added. Truthfully, I think I prefer a Nate 'n Al's brisket or a Langer's pastrami, but Brent's is certainly the real deal, with a fine bowl of pickles on the side, decent prices and all the smoked fish and sliced meats a person could possibly want. If I lived remotely near Northridge, I'd certainly be back to try the blintzes, the pastrami, the chopped liver and in honor of my late father, salami and eggs. What's your favorite deli?
Brent's Deli
19565 Parthenia Street
Northridge
(818) 886-5679

Pie 'n Burger: The classics series

Behold the rhubarb pie of Pie 'n Burger

I hadn't stopped by Pie 'n Burger in quite a while and it's actually open until 10 at night, which is pretty late by Pasadena standards. So three of us stopped by for, what else, burgers and pie the other night to see if it's still up to snuff. Pie 'n Burger in the evening is a bit dreary, with hardly anyone at the counter and just a few tables of earnest looking folk looking like they might have just come from the Sierra Club meeting. As with all great, old classic places there's a few quirks to get used to: it's cash only and oddly, they don't serve cole slaw, which I generally use to meet my vegetable quota in diners. And the fries are deceptively good-looking --they're crisped to a delicious-looking golden hue, but they don't have a lot of taste.
But you're there for the burger, and although it's over $6 by now, it's definitely worth it. With a healthy swatch of lettuce, some secret sauce, grilled onions and cheese, the toppings achieve a perfect interplay with the flat, charbroiled patty. The Apple Pan's patty has more flavor, but the edge goes to Pie 'n Burger for the overall burger satisfaction quotient. It's what you want when you want a hamburger, and not every place can claim that. Sam ordered the rhubarb pie, which was topped with way too much vanilla ice cream. I'm sure the rhubarb wasn't fresh, but for someone who lusts after fruit pies like my son, it hit the spot. I like the breakfasts there too, and it's a good deal cheerier when it's a bit more crowded. At this point, it's worth it just to go somewhere that's stayed much the same for 45 years.

Chilling with Ellroy at the Pacific Dining Car

sometimes we are just carnivores...

Well, actually we didn't have dinner with James Ellroy, he was sitting across the room, wearing a faded pink polo shirt and dining with a well-heeled looking couple when we stopped by the Pacific Dining Car Saturday night. We were overdue for a meal for Matt's birthday, which falls at the hottest part of the year. Last year an otherwise enjoyable meal at Angelini Osteria was marred by half-assed air conditioning (to be fair, it was probably 100 degrees that night). I remembered that the Pacific Dining Car is always kept at meat-locker temperatures, which is actually surprising when you consider the age of most of the patrons.
Matt was thrilled to see Ellroy show up, and impressed that he managed to mention the titles of two porn films within two minutes of being seated. For my part, I was thrilled to have a distraction from the conversation going on next to us in which a middle-aged lady stridently explained the mortal dangers of date rape and Internet dating to her bewildered octogenarian mom.
Matt enjoys a good steak, and the enormous filet mignon topped with truffle butter was a very nice piece of meat. I thought both our steaks verged on rare instead of medium rare, but otherwise the dinner was impeccable, from the buttery sauteed spinach, the also-buttery potatoes au gratin, and yes, the good butter served with the bread basket. The rooms are blissfully quiet compared to every other restaurant, and it's great how even though it's not full, they spread out the parties in all the rooms rather than squishing them into just one. So happy birthday, Matt...next year, party at our place!
Also, here's an earlier report of lunch at the PDC with their wonderful steak salad.

Drinks report: The Smokehouse

I'm glad we had to come back through the Valley after going to Minibar, as Hollywood seemed very crowded indeed on a Hollywood Bowl Saturday night. That way, I could take Matt to the Smoke House, which I've been meaning to do for ages. The Smoke House has been serving workers from Warner Brothers and nearby studios since 1946, and I hate to say, but I've been going there nearly that long. Well, not really, but I spent quite a lot of time there as a little girl eating their great garlic toast and Monte Cristo sandwiches because my dad's animation studio UPA was right next door and he ate lunch there every single day for 25 years. After a few very small plates at Minibar, we probably should have ordered a Monte Cristo as well, but another time. Instead we continued the mojito theme because the Smoke House had them on special that night for a remarkable $5.50 each! Since they were twice the size of Minibar's, that makes them one fourth the price, sort of. We hung out watching young Burbank couples on dates, large groups of middle aged ladies whooping it up, and an inordinate number of key grips and best boys wearing baseball caps, shorts and white sneakers while a pleasant jazz combo tuned up. I wish I was a martini drinker, because the worn red leather booths seem to call for very chilled, very dry martinis. I think I'll be back soon for some garlic toast and a few more bathtub-sized mojitos -- who wouldn't be?
Archived comments:
Doran said...
My Dad worked at Warners at lot and I too spent a fair amount of time as a child scarfing down the Smoke House's garlic toast. The last time I was there was (Yikes!) about 30 years ago on my very first date! While the meal was *much* better than the date, I haven't been back. I'll need to correct that.
Miles said...
When I worked at Disney, I used to go at leat a few times a year. It's best around the Holidays. Doesn't matter what holiday. Just go because they do it up. And the garlic bread is to die for.Plus, when I was growing up, my grandparents lived in Toluca Lake and it was the family gathering place.It's not to be missed.
BBQ Junkie said...
How's their BBQ? With a name like Smokehouse they have to have some on their menu.
Anonymous said...
What you haven't been to the SMOKEHOUSE???? Oh, please! Get it together already! First, ask for the BEST batender in the world...HECTOR. He may not remember your name but he will remember your poison! Mixes up the best drinks...my favorites, Apple Martinis and Bloody Marys!!! Mmmm Delicious!And if you're eating food today...Veggies don't leave before sinking your teeth into some hot Cheese bread. Carnivores grab a cut up NY steak or prime rib!!! You won't regret it!

Nate 'n Al's: You CAN go home again

It's hard to believe that it's been over 25 years since I last set foot in Nate 'n Al's. When my parents were still married, my mom would take me to Sunday school at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church with Jimmy Stewart's kids, and then afterwards, we'd go to Nate 'n Al's for French toast or blintzes or lox, eggs and onions. When I was older, my dad took me for lunch there with his girlfriend of the moment, and around the age of eight, I fixated on the brisket sandwiches and never ordered anything else again.

Here's a poem about Nate n' Als I wrote several years ago. I must have been missing it.

corned beef? no, brisket
scrambled eggs and onions
chocolate milk with a rusty screw
french toast after sunday school
orange chocolate gels
scary yellow sturgeon's eye

When Kathy and Evy proposed having lunch there the other day, I slid into the booth, quickly noting that the room seemed to be identical to the last time I ate there, circa 1980 or so. I waved away the menu while munching on the complimentary pickles, ordering a brisket on rye as if I had just been in the other day. The waitresses seemed to be of equally venerable vintage.

The brisket was flavorful, although certainly drier than a Langer's pastrami. A schmear of brown mustard quickly remedied that problem. The pillowy, warm rye bread was soft in the middle, crunchy on the outside. The coleslaw was a fine accompaniment, not too sweet or saucy.
I had to buy a Joya raspberry joy bar at the checkstand, just to complete the experience. I felt instantly reduced to three feet tall, begging for a candy while my dad charged the bill to his account.
They're all wrong. You can definitely go home again, if home was Nate 'n Al's.

Nate 'n Al Deli
414 N. Beverly Dr.
Beverly Hills
(310) 274-0101

Good old fashioned fish and chips

The situation: A cold, windy, drizzly day in Santa Monica. Hordes of Christmas shoppers jostle the chilled homeless. Gale force winds whip up and down Broadway, Santa Monica, Arizona. A day that calls for something hearty, comforting, and of course, fried.
The solution: Fish and chips, accompanied by hard cider for me and ginger beer for Matt.
The venue: Ye Olde King's Head, Santa Monica.
The verdict: Crunchy, ethereal, perfectly fried batter. Standard issue cod, adequate as a base for the sublimely fried crust. Chips are much improved by sitting underneath a few pieces of vinegared fish for a while. Vinegar seems oddly mild -- diluted for the Yanks, possibly? A satisfying, tasty lunch for the slog back to the car.
The damage: A king-sized plate of F & C runs about $13.95, a queen size about $10.95. I managed to polish off the large size, but the smaller would have been quite sufficient.
Ye Olde King's Head
116 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica
(310) 451-1402