Taste test: A Cow Jumped Over the Moon

smoked salmon crepe and mesclun salad

A Cow Jumped Over the Moon is an unlikely delight: a completely kosher cheese shop and French cafe hidden in the bowels of a Rodeo Drive shopping complex. It's on the lower level of the Rodeo Collection, adjacent to the valet parking stand. With construction on the collection (a new restaurant is going in) and some of the escalators under repair, it's tricky to find, but worth the search. The modern orange and chrome cafe with tables outside reminds me of eating at the cafes in Les Halles shopping center in Paris -- not much of a view, but authentic nonetheless. There's a small but judicious selection of kosher French cheeses, kosher chocolates, wines and of course, He' Brew gourmet kosher beer. The cafe menu is the real treat though -- everything from salade nicoise to a raclette plate, fondue, smoked salmon salad and pan bagnat. I tried a crepe with raclette cheese, pickles, potatoes and smoked salmon. For just $8, I got a nice sized crepe made with hearty buckwheat, a big mesclun salad and half a just-baked yeasty baguette. Such a deal!
The patrons provide some choice people-watching too: a man whose head is covered in hairdye wanders in wearing a robe, asking for his usual smoked salmon sandwich to be delivered to the hair salon; a group of young Orthodox college men wonders whether smoked salmon is the same thing as lox and orders a cheese plate; a French lady doctor who works upstairs tells me she's thrilled to find a healthy cafe nearby with good food. Indeed, anyone looking for a reasonably-priced quick lunch in Beverly Hills should be happy with A Cow -- you don't have to keep kosher to like it.
A Cow Jumped Over the Moon
421 N. Rodeo Dr. (in the Rodeo Collection)
Beverly Hills
(310) 274-4269

Taste test: a Magic Carpet ride

Magic Carpet seems to be one of those reliable ethnic adventures like Marouch and Guelaguetza that Angelenos keep in their mental databases for those occasions when a little exotica is in order. Somehow all these years the Yemenite Jewish spot had escaped my notice, but in my perennial quest for new eggplant discoveries, Amy and I tried it for lunch on a quiet Friday. Since they were just about to close down for Shabbat, only one other table was occupied, and we had the handsome young Moroccan-Israeli waiter all to ourselves. First we got a basket of fluffy pita bread and some delicious beets in vinegar. There's a surfeit of eggplant dishes, and I brushed off the waiter's suggestion of the familiar babaghanouj in favor of marinated eggplant with mushrooms (above left). Remembering her grandmother's rendition of the dish, Amy ordered the stuffed cabbage (below right). I scooped up one mouthful of eggplant after another, happy to finally be somewhere where all my eggplant dreams could be realized.
Alas, there weren't enough of us to try the 8-salad eggplant sampler. The stuffed cabbage was kind of a small portion, but tasty if you like that sort of thing, and it came with plenty of couscous and steamed vegetables. I was also intrigued by the Iraqi sandwich with sauteed eggplant and the Iraqi, Tunisian, Moroccan and Egpytian breakfast plates. Next time, we'll have to take more people and try the melawach flatbread. I hear that the meat dishes aren't that special at Magic Carpet, but there's enough salads and other unusual dishes to keep anyone busy for a long time. Since Magic Carpet is kosher, it's closed Friday night and all day Saturday.
Magic Carpet
8566 W. Pico Blvd.
310-652-8507