Mikey HATES Everything!

Chabuya (Sawtelle)

2008-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

I've been AFB (away from blog) recently because it's that time of year when I'm too miserly to eat out. The same feeling came around last February after which I dared myself to live off a pot of curry for an entire week. The sense of accomplishment is tremendous.

This year, I'm not nearly as ambitious. It's easier to just have grandma treat me to lunch on her Social Security check, which she did last weekend. We sat down for a mid-afternoon meal at Chabuya along Sawtelle Blvd. She had the chicken donburi (rice bowl) and I the tsukemen, a version of ramen where the noodles and broth are separated.

Since opening a couple years back, the Japanese noodle chain has noticeably beefed up their menu. They initially christened their dining tables with only their signature ramen, but when that didn't seem to win customers' hearts they branched out to things like donburi and Vietnamese sandwiches. It was a smart move considering Americans enjoy a menu with variety.

In celebration of summer, Chabuya is currently serving an assortment of cold dishes topped with generous portions of vegetables and meat. The sugary shoyu sauce comes in a separate cup and you pour it over the noodles to your liking.

***WARNING ***JAPANESE CULTURAL TIP BELOW *** **WARNING **

Tsukemen, on the other hand (see photo above), is a completely different dish. It's eaten by dipping a few strands of noodles at a time into the warm broth, a dense version of that of ramen. I watched in horror the girl next to me pouring broth into her plate. Although the results weren't cataclysmic, I still wouldn't do it. The broth is at perfect concentration while in the cup. Pouring it onto the noodles would dilute the taste.

Cold noodle portions are generous at Chabuya. The broth is richly tasty and the bigger-than-bite-size toppings will keep you full 'til dinner. It may not be the best meal you'll ever have, but for $8 I'd say it's nicely satisfying. Thanks again, Grandma!

OMIYAGE #4: Dorayaki

2008-08-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Slap two little pancakes together around a scoop of sweet bean paste and you'll have this traditional Japanese favorite, dorayaki. This particular one is decorated with a dried and salted cherry blossom flower, and the pancake is steamed so that it's nice and fluffy. You'll find them at a store in Setagaya, Tokyo for $2 a piece:

Check out more sweets from Japan HERE.

Japadog (Vancouver)

2008-07-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

I was meandering through Flickr today when I came across this little photo gem. It's the menu at a hot dog stand in Canada called "JAPADOG"!! haha, gotta love the Japa-style.

You really have to look carefully to appreciate this one:

Teriyaki sauce and mayo? Grated daikon radish and soy sauce? Miso paste and mayo? And the dogs are made with juicy kurobuta (black pork). I don't know about you but I'm hungry. Check out their site cause it gets even better.

(Thanks Zyork!)

Spitz - Home of the Doner Kebab (Little Tokyo)

2008-07-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

I found this storefront today in Little Tokyo. Back when I was living in Big Tokyo, I used to buy doner kebab all the time from these Middle Eastern dudes selling them from makeshift stands throughout town. They slice the meat from a rotating spit and stuff it in a pita with lettuce and onions. It was a very cost-efficient meal, especially for the starving student that I was. So this was today's cool discovery.

But what struck me more than the new storefront was the fact that they adorned it with this oddity:

No disrespect to Conchita 666, Elizabeth P and the other random dude they quoted, but how can a place toot its own horn with praises by people with as much credibility as Joe Schmo? Granted, if I found my name on that banner in place of a big-name critic I'd be glowing right now. But I'd still expect a heavy load of flogging to come my way. After all, who am I but a person who knows how to upload photos and text on the internet?

The fine line between us (bloggers, Yelpers, etc) and them (the salaried critic) is that the latter is bound by journalism code of ethic. For example, if you're invited to a restaurant offering free food and drinks, you do not return to your writing tablet with rave reviews. Of course you had a splendid time. That was the point. The entire event was a bribe; a temporary bias in favor of the restaurant. If you must do a write-up, at least disclose the nature of the event. In other words, state that it was a big freebie extravaganza.

As for us, we have no prescribed code of ethic. To each his own.

Mind you, food bloggers have risen to rock star status these past couple years and it's neat being part of it. Just last week at 8 oz. Burger, I noticed the manager was unusually attentive to Mikey and me. My fat Canon was sitting on the table and the manager offered to take a picture. I mumbled under my breathe, almost apologetically, that I was a blogger, and he responded with a smile that said, "No shit, Sherlock." (Mental note: Be more discreet.) He then offered us not one, but TWO saucers of homemade ketchup. (Score~!)

As responsible food blogging citizens (Yelpers included), I think it's important to be aware of these biases before we generously unload our self-righteous opinions, whether good or bad, onto the universe. But until that awareness comes; until a bloggers' code of ethic emerges, I don't think most of us are worthy of our words being placed on a nice, silky banner. Frankly, it's a little embarrassing.

That said, I look forward to eating doner kebab. Incognito.

8 oz. Burger (Melrose)

2008-07-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

I've spent the past week eating that hearty miso soup I talked about earlier. It's my new diet of sorts. But with any tasty broth you're good for an hour until your stomach begs for more. "Meat!" it screamed tonight. That's what led me and Mikey to 8 oz. Burger, the new joint on Melrose Avenue by chef Govind Armstrong. Three days have passed since its opening and Armstrong just so happened to be enjoying a drink at the table next to us. With his chair facing the door, he undoubtedly had an eye on people walking in.

Mikey was the one to notice him but only later put a name to the face. If only I had known, I would've been more discreet about doing away with the top of my grass-fed burger -- eating the rest with a fork and knife.

Don't get me wrong, Armstrong has a good thing going here. As he envisioned, it's a great meal without the pretense. The patty was juicy, the onion rings, though scarce, were nicely battered, and the Kennebec fries were amazing. (Go ahead and splurge on the homemade ketchup for $1. It's worth it.). It's just that darn bun, over-sized and over-toasted, was trying to steal everyone's thunder. Mikey didn't mind, though. He rather liked it.

The burger comes medium-rare, i.e., pretty darn red, so be sure to request that it be cooked longer if you're like me with raw-meat issues. For the more faint-hearted, they also have a turkey and veggie burger options. All burgers are between $9-$11 but are fairly basic. Extra toppings — red onion marmalade, garlic roasted tomatoes, avocado, wild baby arugula and more — are $2 each.

I'd second the motion with CH-ers in speculating that as unpolished as things may seem here in these first few weeks, they'll eventually work things out. I'm rooting for them.

Onion rings; crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.

Grass-fed beef burger with cured bacon, sauteed mushrooms and gruyere cheese.

8 Oz. Burger Bar
7661 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 852-0008

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Their menu, courtesy of EaterLa.

Japanese Comfort Food

2008-07-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a four-day bachelorette party in Vegas. Martinis aside, I consumed enough cheese, cow and deep-fried snacks to feed a schoolyard.

My stomach isn't built to go longer than 3 days without some sort of Asian-y eats. So in a last-ditch effort to keep me in check, it starts shooting fire balls through my intestine. Luckily on the fourth day, the girlfriends and I stumbled upon the best noodle joint on the Strip. It's on the ground floor of the Venetian and has a good selection of your favorite Chinese dishes. Never mind that it's twice what you'd pay in Monterey Park. I recommend their chicken congee ($9.50), a.k.a. oka-yu . For the first time the entire weekend, something sat well.

Once I got back to LA, I had a mad craving for a tonjiru, which is a hearty version of miso soup. It's one of those Japanese comfort foods that makes you feel everything is right in the world.

Here's how you make it:

Round up any or all of the following: carrots, gobo (burdock root), enoki mushrooms, daikon, konnyaku, tofu, and (most importantly) thinly sliced pork. The fattier the better.

Slice the vegetables into strips then stir-fry with the pork until lightly golden. Then in the same pot add two cups of water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Add a pinch of dashi powder and spoon in about two tablespoons of red miso paste. Stir and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Believe me, the longer it sits on the stove the better. When I was living in Japan, during wintertime I'd keep a pot of tonjiru on the stove for days, though mainly cause the kitchen was colder than the fridge. =P I'm tempted to do the same thing here, 'cept it might grow its own vegetable patch after a while. Yikes!

How to Aerate Wine

2008-07-02T22:13:00.001-07:00

I went down to Tijuana last night for cheap booze and loose men. Though all I found was a great restaurant for Baja California cuisine. By recommendation, I ordered a Pinot Noir by Monte Xanic. Then the waiter came out and put on a show for me. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of show that required dollar bills, but it was just as fun:

VIDEO: Pocky and Friends

2008-06-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

I made a fan-vid for Pocky and other sweets I found at the local Asian markets. Here's a list of what's featured:

1) [Pocky] Brazilian Pudding
2) [Marble Pocky] Mild & Bitter
3) [Marble Pocky] Rum Raisin
4) [Pretz] Mild Cheese / Sharp Cheese
5) [Kabaya] Kagoshima Sweet Potato pretzel
6) [Koeda] Evening Time, Brandy & Cacao
7) [Pocky] Super Thin
8) [Pretz] Sharp Cheese
9) [Fran] Winter Premium, White Chocolate with Macadamia Nuts
10) [Pocky] Blueberry (with fruit bits)
11) [Fran] Matcha Green Tea
12) F Cup Cookie (to increase your bust size)
13) [Pretz] Bakery Flat Style with Bacon and Cheese flavor
14) [Fran] Banana and Milk
15) [Koeda] Morning Time with Blueberry, Yogurt and Cornflake
16) Original Pocky!!

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In Other News...

Looking for a professional TV chef to cook in your kitchen? Look here.
It's another sweltering day at work in Los Angeles and you want lunch delivered to you. Well here you go .

OMIYAGE: Monaka

2008-06-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

This is a mini version of a classic Japanese sweet filled with red bean paste and sandwiched between thin mochi wafers. This particular one hails from Sendai City, but you can find them most anywhere in Japan.

Check out a Japanese sesame egg HERE.

Gonpachi 1st Year Anniversary Party

2008-06-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

I got a last-minute invite to Gonpachi's 1st anniversary party. Food poured out buffet-style with sushi, sashimi, soba, and grilled skewers of shrimp, beef and tsukune (ground chicken). They earned bonus points with the hijiki (the black mass) stir-fried with edamame and atsuage (fried tofu), and the soy sauce-sweetened gobo and renkon (burdock and lotus root). If we only had hot rice:

The sushi was replenished as quickly as it vanished.

I got there really early (i.e., on time). See those girls in short skirts? I later realized they weren't party crashers; they were hired eye-candy.

The desserts were hit-or-miss. The matcha pudding was yummy. The brownish pudding was, uh, brown. The crepe rolls were interesting -- filled with anko (red bean) strawberries and shiso(!) Didn't work for me. Of course you can't go wrong with Japanese cookies.

I'm glad I arrived early. No sake cocktail would've been strong enough to tolerate the line out the wooden gate.

Another fanciful creation. This one actually worked for me. It was topped with a shiratama (the white mochi thing), anko, sesame paste and a slice of orange. Fun~

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In Other News: Hot red-bean cakes are coming to Beverly Hills! They're called ima-gawa-yaki, and they're round and tasty. Not sure when they're opening, but I can't wait.

Little Tokyo's Mitsuwa Market mall SOLD!

2008-06-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't think it would, but it makes me sad. Not because the new owners aren't Japanese ...but, just because. I spent a good part of my childhood running up and down those escalators at 'Yaohan Plaza.' And as the years passed, it was always a little painful to stop by and count the increasing number of empty storefronts.

The supermarket still remains my favorite place to shop. The place is huge. And at times, I'd be only one of five customers, but they still kept things in stock. They have the best candy-toy section in town, by far. I just hope Honda-ya sticks around.

According to the LA Times article, the shopping center was bought by Korean American investors for $35.5 million. They haven't settled on a plan but their ideas include a Korean market with Korean spas and stores in the adjoining retail space, or to have a mainstream American marketplace.

Craft (Century City)

2008-06-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

It's all about showmanship here at Craft. That's what happens when most of your customers are Hollywood power agents. So in lieu of chips and salsa, the amuse-bouche of the day was a sliver of cured fish with a pinch of garnish. It was placed on a fancy spoon that literally bent over backwards for me. Sadly, I had no clue how to eat it. I needed a bowl of rice.

What brought Mikey and I here was a story on honey desserts in the LA Times' Food Section. This photo of Craft's wildflower honey shortcake sent Mikey's little heart racing and so we made a pact to start saving our pennies. Three months later we made it over there.

Mikey had to try the raw oysters ($3 each). They were certainly fresh, he said. Don't ask me what I thought. I don't like squishy foods:

There was a section on the menu just for farm eggs. I was intrigued by the one called Duck Egg, Duck Ham and Spiced Waffle ($16). And that's what literally came out, drizzled with syrup. The waffle seemed a little too crispy but everything was good otherwise. You figure it's hard to mess up bacon and eggs. I also had the watercress, duck ham and pistachio salad ($17). Again good, but nothing to write home about.

Then came the fancy palate cleanser -- fruit sorbet. Come to think of it, I had more fun eating the free stuff.

Then came dessert. And wouldn't ya know, the wildflower honey shortcake was no more. Craft's menu frequently changes and honey desserts were already out of the rotation. So we settled on a Pink Lady apple crisp with vanilla ice cream ($12) and a blueberry crumb cake ($12).

!DING! DING! DING!, we finally have a winner:

If there's anything to be had here at Craft it's the apple crisp. Mikey ordered it but I finished it. The crunchy brown-sugar shell nicely insulated the warm stewed apples. Pair it with the vanilla-speckled ice cream and you've got a party in your mouth.

After we paid, our server sent us home with muffins, individually packaged and tied with a ribbon. Fancy. Though when I ate it the next day for breakfast I found it too sweet to get past the first bite.

So did I enjoy myself at Craft? Overall, yes. From doubtful celebrity sightings to simply admiring the architecture, the atmosphere provided stimulating conversation. And the small samplings of dishes were good. Though in the balance of style and substance, I'd have to say Craft comes out a little uneven. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of substance. So if I'm ever going to pay $160 for dinner again it better be not just good but hella good.

Craft
10100 Constellation Blvd
Century City, CA 90067
(310) 279-4180

OMIYAGE: Sesame Egg

2008-05-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

The stork just dropped this one off from Ginza . The shell is made of castella cake and white chocolate. Inside you'll find a gooey sesame paste that paints your tongue black until you wash it down with a glass of milk:

Breaded strawberry? Look HERE.

Hunting for Bamboo Shoot

2008-05-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post other people's videos on my site, but heck 1) it's food related and 2) it's very informative. I didn't know this was how you gather bamboo shoot. I kinda assumed they were born into tin cans. I also envy Joi Ito's huge backyard. Few in Japan are lucky to even have a separate kitchen and living room.

The Highs and Lows of Lactose Intolerance

2008-05-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

HIGH: Finding a "cure"

Last year I found a product to help ease my lactose intolerance. The brochure used the word "solution," so of course in my mind it meant a cure. (yippee!) I spent $150 and did the 38-day program in which I had to ingest powder every day and abstain from any form of dairy. It wasn't easy because dairy is in EVERYTHING we eat: spaghetti bolognese, eggs with hollandaise sauce, salad dressing... I was down to noodles and crackers. Then my stomach started reacting (bloating, cloggage) and before you know it I was spending Saturday nights alone in my room.

But after 38 days I had my first Chai Latte with real milk and felt A-OK! "Wow, it actually worked," I thought, and continued along the high road of dairy tolerance. That is until....

Low: A year goes by and I can't digest dairy anymore =(

It crept up slowly, but surely. Now I'm back to square one. The thing is, I love dairy. I still buy milk, but I sip cautiously.

HIGH: Saying "screw it" and going to a MILK event.

This week Chef Bret Thompson, along with people behind the GOT MILK campaign, threw a dairy food promotional (read as 'orgy du la creme') . I threw colon-caution to the wind and decided to go. My two robot friends were getting a last-minute lube job so we were incredibly late, but there was still a lot of good stuff left, plus I got to talk to the chef.

That Bret is a swell guy. He may be high-profile, but he's humble enough to man his own cash register. That's where I found him the first time I visited MILK, last year. Julie Delpy had come in with some friends and Bret was taking their order en francais. Little did I know, world-famous designer Phillipe Starck was part of the entourage, as Bret excitedly pointed out. I had no clue. Both of us were star-struck that evening but for different reasons. Fancy that.

You can see Bret in this picture:

He's not always that blurry 'cept for when the focus is on the sweets. From left to right: a mini cone with banana ice cream, savory butternut squash soup, an ice cream sandwich sprinkled with rice crispies, and a 'tres leches' berry cake. I settled in by popping a Lactaid. The body tends to build a tolerance against it, but since I'd been away from pills for a while it seemed to do the trick. Hallelujah.

All the desserts were heavenly, especially the banana ice cream with its nutty hard shell. The robots loved the soup and cornbread (not pictured).

Here's another shot:

The day ended well and my colon was hanging in. I'd been taking the Activia challenge this week, eating yogurt to regulate my system. So maybe it was working? =)

The Final Low: Getting bad news from the doctor.

I had a physical exam this week. They took x-rays, drew blood, and made me pee in a plastic cup. During the doctor's consultation I asked if lactose intolerance was curable and he gave me an emphatic but regretful "no." "But you can still maintain your digestive system by taking things containing acidophilus," he added. So I left the office somewhat optimistic. So as long I continue eating yogurt and popping pills regularly I should be okay.

A few hours later, the doctor called with the results from my blood test. He said my cholesterol was high and that I needed to cut back on high-fat dairy. Do'h! I was speechless. For the past year I'd worked to get back something only to be told it was never meant to be. How depressing.

Cheese. Ice Cream. Milk. I miss you already.

M Cafe (Culver City)

2008-05-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

Japanese department stores are famous for their basement-floor food counters. Think Dean & Deluca meets Nobu: Bright glass cases displaying mouth-watering wafuu morsels, beautifully coiffed and precisely centered on expensive white plates.

That's the concept in mind at M Cafe. Sorta... Stylish they are. Morsels they are not. Prim-and-proper Japanese ladies would gawk at some of these supersized mouth-stuffers. Inari sushi (aka footballs) are topped with an assortment of garnishes like shiitake, sliced gobo (burdock root) and carrots, and wild salmon, each about $2 a pop. I told a Japanese friend about them she gave me a bemused look like, "Yeah, I'm so not going there." Okay, yes, it's weird and oh-so bastardized, but looking at the people behind the counter -- Japanese chefs and managers with concerned looks on their faces -- I trusted that careful thought went into everything made at M Cafe.

They also carry bento box lunches (about $10) loaded generously with deli selections. Of course, being a macrobiotic food place it's made with the best ingredients and excludes anything that'll make you gassy: dairy, red meat, refined sugars, eggs.

In a rush, I'd inadvertently picked out the priciest thing on the menu: a $15 genmai rice bowl topped with teriyaki black cod and steamed vegetables. Maybe not the price I was hoping to spend on lunch, but it was really tasty. Though next time I'm going for the bento.

I didn't get to try anything else but there's a lot of promising offerings: sandwiches (muffaletta, California club), wraps, sushi, rice bowls ("katsu", bibimbop) and a whole case of desserts.

I'll be back to check out more.

M Cafe
9343 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA
(310) 838-4300

Yakitori Bincho (Redondo Beach Pier)

2008-05-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

I'm only blogging about this because I'm blindly assuming no one will bother driving all the way out to Redondo Pier for chunks of chicken (please don't go!). Because frankly, I've fallen in love with the Japanese husband-and-wife pair running the place. They're earnest people who took the plunge and started a business in this cut-throat town. It would've been safer buying a piece of the McDonald's franchise in Downey, but instead they took the tougher route — renting a storefront on the sleepy side of a pier, printing out business cards with "Tuseday" misspelled, and hoping that maybe, just maybe, customers will take notice.

Leave it up to the Rameniac (via Vittus on CH) to find them.

It's the combination of food and atmosphere that's stellar. At Bincho, you can sit at a counter only feet away from the ocean and have a casual chat with the Tokyo-born couple. When I'm in LA too long I tend to forget the fun in talking to strangers. Of course it helps when there's less than 10 customers and the room is the size of a walk-in closet.

Here's some things I found out about them: 1) They buy their bincho-tan (charcoal) from Japan. Not Marukai, like me. 2) They were both students here in California, though he admits not studying very hard. 3) They moved to LA just before setting up shop a couple months ago, which would mean they came here to live out the American Dream not just to hang out in Torrance. 4) They eat a lot of chicken. Especially when customers don't show up.

Here's some of what I had:

Shiso-wrapped yakitori with a smidgen of ume (pickled plum) paste. Delicately crispy, well-seasoned texture. Juicy meat. I kept joking with a friend that it's probably just Foster Farms. Don't worry, the sign outside says "California jidori chicken"; cage-free, hormone-free.

Salted chicken skewers topped with scallions. You have the option of salt- or sauce-seasoned for any of the skewers. Both are great. Again, beautifully crisp yet juicy. Flavors are definitely not over the top the way Gardena's Shinsengumi can be.

After I bit into a piece of the tsukune, chicken meatball, I literally stopped conversing with everyone around me. Suddenly nothing else mattered except for this meatball skewer. "Jouhin na aji" is how I'd describe it in Japanese. In English, perhaps you can say refined.

And here's the meat-stuffed bell pepper, accompanied by hot mustard.

So again, please don't go to Yakitori Bincho. If you do, come alone. It's only the two of them running the shop. It's not a big place and an overflow could cause hardship, physical breakdown and/or karoushi (death from exhaustion). And I'd be sad if that happened.

Yakitori Bincho
112 N. International Boardwalk
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 376-3889

Mon.- Thurs.: 5 - 11 p.m.
Fri.-Sun. 4 p.m. 12 a.m.
Closed Tuesday
(Park in North Parking Lot)

Sweet Lady Jane (West Hollywood)

2008-04-30T21:46:00.001-07:00

A while back I saw Mario Batali on Iron Chef whip up an English Trifle. It seemed like the most basic thing -- layers of fluffy cake, cream and berries -- but it was one of the most delectable sights I'd ever seen. I've been on a search ever since. Sweet Lady Jane does theirs pretty well, but somehow I know there's better. I think what gets to me is the over-sized portions. For me, sweets are best in the first eight bites. After that it turns into an unwelcome guest. This one had a 20-bite count, give or take a few.

My grandma had the lemon meringue. I think her eyes were bigger than her stomach when she chose it. Luckily meringues are mostly air, so she got through it without keeling over. Phew~!

Lactose Intolerance (an update on last year's experiment)

2008-04-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

A reader sent this email yesterday:

Hi Pirikara!

I was just reading your blog and I was very happy to find an objective review on your experience with Lactagen. I have been contemplating buying that product for a while, and I was so glad to find an objective review.
Now that it's almost a year later, I'm curious how you are doing? Are you still struggling with the intolerance, or are you largely "cured" at this point?
Thanks again for your helpful blog! I am an LA local and depend on sites like yours for "pre-screening" of my eating choices.

Mr. Lactose Intolerant

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Hi Mr. Lactose Intolerant,

Funny you should write to me about Lactagen. Yes, a year has passed and sadly, I'm noticing slight but increasing signs of lactose intolerance, but it's still not as bad as before. I still drink milk every day (albeit, only the good stuff like Brouguire and Trader Joe's) and plan to continue doing so because basically I'm no longer afraid of dairy.

That said, I don't think of Lactagen as a bogus product. It did as much as it could do in trying to reintroduce lactobacillus into my system, and anyone who's done their research would know that a single dose of antibiotics could kill the bacteria as quickly as it was introduced. (I had to take antibiotics a few weeks later. Oh the heartbreak!)

I do believe, though, that there are cheaper alternatives. Lactagen is basically lactobacillus powder in bulk. It's nice because they give you a daily chart of how much to take, but it is certainly not scarce commodity. Trader Joe's sells it for far cheaper, in pill form. I also noticed Whole Foods promoting lactose intolerance products recently.

Good luck and may the force be with you~!

Piri

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So my question now is, has anyone found other ways of curing/easing lactose intolerance? I'm curious, so let me know!

On the Road: Sonoma + Napa Valley

2008-04-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Mikey escaped from the basement last week. He pulled the chains out from the wall leaving two gaping black holes. When I realized what'd happened I followed his breadcrumb trail north. Ten hours later I was in Sonoma. He apparently resented the fact that I never took him, so he decided to high-tail it up there himself.

I found him and his doughy little cheeks pressed against the window of a quaint little restaurant called The Girl and the Fig. They're known for their 'fromage tower,' a 3-tiered cheese, fruit and meat plate. Mikey hopped all the way there for it only to realize he had no money. "You know, you're a real pain in the bun," I told him. "But (sigh) we're here so we might as well go in."

The tower du cheese dauntingly overshadowed us (hey, we're short!), but I'm not one to waste food so we got some wine, took a deep breath and began picking at it bit by bit. At $38 it included six artisan cheeses, pork terrine, a selection of cured meats, pickles, fig cake, fruits, and a bevy of home-sweetened nuts. Now I understood why Mikey came all the way up here. Mixing and matching the pungent with the sweet tickled my taste-buds in ways I wouldn't've imagined. We were like Hansel and Gretel tasting candy for the very first time.

My stomach squeezed in room for the next course, a roasted whole rainbow trout ($20.95). The fresh fillet was pan-fried to a golden crisp and topped with a vinaigrette-doused assortment of fingerling potatoes, nubs of applewood bacon, shaved fuji apples and roasted shallots. The tower had done me in but I still enjoyed every bite of this.

I was ready to go home but Mikey had a second destination mapped out -- the Culinary Institute of America. We were far too tipsy to walk, so we hitchhiked our way to the town of St. Helena, population 6,000. Our driver told us to look for Hogwarts castle amid the purple and green-vined flatlands. Sure enough, as soon as we rounded the corner there it was:

Okay so maybe Harry Potter never drove a PT Cruiser to school. And the parking lot in front puts a damper on the majestic sight. A broomstick lot would've been more discreet.

Greystone Restaurant was located around the corner of the building. Inside, guests sat at a stone-top counter encompassing an open kitchen in the middle of the room. It provided a birds' eye view of the culinary students (aka wizards) gripping their hats as they seared and broiled the day's special ingredients.

Already red-faced Mikey ordered a 3-glass white wine sampler ($16):

We also tried the 'Today's Temptations,' a $9.95 per person array of tiny bites whipped up on whim of the chef: duck pate on a baby lettuce leaf, a marinated shrimp, a pea puree... interesting stuff and, yes, very fancy-smancy. Mikey put on his silk ascot for the occasion.

I moved onto the $34 plate of day-boat scallops collected from divers on the North Atlantic coast:

And of course you can't forget dessert. The molten chocolate lava cake with vanilla bean ice cream ($8):

Organic yogurt panna cotta with strawberry rhubarb sorbet ($5):

And some lemon custard beignets coupled with a shot of citrus fizz topped with thyme foam ($7):

With all that food in our belly we decided to take a leisurely stroll home to Los Angeles. The digestion process drew all the blood in my head to my stomach and I'd completely forgotten I had been mad at Mikey. That is, until I remembered the two holes in my wall. (argh!) But he promised to plaster it up once we got back.

Secretly, though, I'm glad he'd escaped. Otherwise I would have never gone up north, much less brought myself to spend the money we did on those two meals (a little under $300 in total). Like I said before, I'm a $5-noodle bowl kinda girl. But when a decadent meal calls it's best to come a-runnin'.

The Girl and the Fig
110 West Spain Street
Sonoma, CA. 95476
(707) 938-3634

Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant
at Culinary Institute of America
2555 Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574
(707) 967-1010

Pinkberry Lawsuit settled

2008-04-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

This just in from the LA Times about the year-old lawsuit :

By Kimi Yoshino

Pinkberry is spooning out some cold hard cash to end a class-action lawsuit.

Ron Graves, chief executive of the Los Angeles-based company, said Thursday that Pinkberry had settled the suit filed by disgruntled customers contending that the popular frozen treat might not be yogurt.

"We're really happy to put the debate behind us," he said. "There was a lot of misinformation swirling out there -- everything from it isn't really yogurt to there weren't live and active cultures. . . . The product was real frozen yogurt then. It still is."

After the suit was filed, Pinkberry acknowledged that it wasn't in compliance with state food guidelines that require frozen yogurt to be mixed off-site, not in stores.

Pinkberry's product now is mixed at a dairy, Graves said.

The suit, filed in May, forced the company to disclose its ingredients, now posted on www.pinkberry.com.

As part of the settlement, Pinkberry will give a total of $750,000 to two Southern California charities, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Para los Niños, a child-care group.

Attorney Michael Amir, who filed the suit, said: "We made the point we needed to make . . . and we're very happy.""

----

$750,000?! And I'm assuming this won't put Pinkberry anywhere in the red. We've all spent way too much money on fro-yo. Let's move on, shall we?

Addendum: Hmm, I feel like frozen yogurt right now. Damn.

Hanaichimon-me @ Little Tokyo Square

2008-04-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

Mochi ice cream isn't the only Japanese dessert. (And just for the record, "mochi" doesn't necessarily contain ice cream.) One of my favorites is an-mitsu ($3.50), this one containing a cocktail mix of bananas, pineapples and mandarin oranges alongside sweet red beans, agar jelly and plump pinches of mochi.

It's the kind of stuff to cool down with on a blistering hot day in Japan, though these days young people would rather do the American thing: chill at Baskin-Robbins.

Hanaichimon-me
33 S. Alameda St., #303
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(Little Tokyo Square, 3F)

(213) 626-3514

Akasha @ Culver City

2008-04-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I happened to watch TLC's "Flip That Restaurant" featuring Culver City's newest eatery Akasha (pronounced Ah-KAH-sha). Of course being a TV show, they featured a roller coaster of technical difficulties in renovating the former San Gennaro site. Hours before the opening night party the telephone line wasn't connected, the kitchen had to be moved to a tent and someone had forgotten to build the server station (oy vey!). But wouldn't you know it, by the end of the day everything ran smoothly, the guests were smitten and the noted critic was raving.

Contrived, yes. But the show did pique my interest enough to drive the 5 blocks for dinner. The restaurant boasted tasty organic eats, and besides, I'd unchained Mikey from the basement that night and he was mighty thirsty.

The atmosphere was downtown chic, a warmly lit industrial space with farmhouse wood for walls (Part of owner Akasha Richmond's master plan for going green). On a Thursday night it was definitely the place to be, but don't believe it when you read online that they're booked two months in advanced. We walked in at 7 and sat down by 7:01.

The prices scared me. Entrees averaged $25 and starters were more than half that. I'm a simple girl who gets excited over a $5 noodle bowl. But if the food is tasty then 'nuff said, right?

We started with the Fisherman's Daughter Masala Shrimp. Mikey seemed enticed by the idea of having a piece of the fisherman's daughter. I was not. Maybe if it were the Fisherman's Son? The Spicegirl's Husband? Hmm...

The waitress brought over four nicely grilled pieces of shrimp accompanied by tomato chutney sauce, mint raita and some sort of sprout which ended up outlasting the shrimps. Tasty and well-thought out, but it left something to be desired. A few more shrimps, perhaps.

I had the Loch Duart salmon cooked South Indian style with oven roasted curried cauliflower, green beans and tamarind date chutney. Mikey had the Heritage Country pork chop with sambazon acai & honey sauce, white bean puree and braised greens. I write these words as if I'm an an organic food authority, but alas I simply copied the online menu. Loch Duart is a company located in the Scottish Highlands, according to Wikipedia. Heritage Country remains a mystery, unless the pork company doubles as a Massachusetts golf course.

Both were fresh, juicy and well-seasoned. I'd expect nothing less from anything flown in from halfway around the world. And Akasha certainly has a way with sauces. You're in a different country with every bite.

This is the "SALTY CHOCOLATE TART with big tree farms sea salt, caramel, pecans,
soy vanilla chantilly crème DOUGIE." I actually had this the night before without Mikey. Salty desserts are big in Japan right now so I wanted to try it. It's one of those acquired tastes. Kind of like Super Lemon candy.

All in all, I enjoyed trying downtown CC's newest addition. Personally, it didn't have the prized wow-factor, but it's still a nice restaurant with the added bonus of a cocktail bar and organic bakery. Believe me, Culver City gets more interesting by the minute.

Akasha
9543 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
310.845.1700

Richie Palmer's @ Santa Monica

2008-03-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

McDonald's fries and Richie's pizza are pretty damn good within the first 5 minutes. The golden hot potato/crust fuses salt into your palate and sends your brain into gastronomic euphoria. But before you know it, the clock strikes midnight, the food gets cold and *poof* ...cardboard.

I walked into Richie's anticipating stiff competition for Joe's down the street in Santa Monica. Both hail from the tough streets of New York and have had years of dough to practice with. So you'd think it'd reach something close to perfection by now, right?

Richie's BBQ chicken pizza was good and probably would've kept through the next day. The sauce was mildly sweet, covering for the underwhelming flavor of the crust. Mind you, it was an excellent crust; thinly doughy and with a crispy bottom. If only it could stay that way. The artichoke and tomato pizza didn't make it past 3 minutes.

If it's any consolation, the chopped salad was good.

Richie Palmer's Pizzeria
1355 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 255-1111

Omiyage: Ginza Strawberry

2008-03-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned this earlier, but I'm starting a new video corner where I feature every Japanese confection I come across. I'm not talking about the common stuff you get at the Japanese market but the classier swag (aka omiyage) that guests bring over in big, fancy boxes. This one is called Ginza Strawberry, a soft, fluffy cake filled with sweet berry cream. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.