mixmaster b

Several years ago I had a fun dinner at the bar at Plouf on Belden Place. I seem to remember the food was good, but the lively scene, great bar, and cute French waiters were the main darw. There are other spots along the alley, but I have not been to any of them. Here's a Citysearch list. Plouf seems to be the most highly rated, both here and in Zagat (where food gets a 22).

Redondo Beach is a ways south of LA, on the coast. If you drive up the coast, you'll pass a bunch of the beach cities --Manhattan Beach, Marina Del Ray, Venice and Santa Monica. These last 2 are probably your best bet for food. Venice is a little more interesting, especially Abbot Kinney, the street where Joe's is. Another good spot near there is Axe, a very modern little restaurant with a world/asain menu that actually works quite well. The prices are reasonable, but it can get loud at night (awful acoustics). Also nearby is Amuse, a new place which seems promising. I had a very good brunch there, and I bet dinners would be better. A great bargain can be found at Chaya Venice (a very trendy, upscale CA fusion place on Main street) While meals are expensive, they have great happy hour deals on sushi rolls. I know sushi is not your pref, but these are very creative California style offerings, and the room is really nice. You might call ahead for happy hour details. For a fun lunch if the weather is nice, try Cha Cha Chicken on Pico, near the beach. A carabbean theme, outdoor spot, funky, fun, and inexpensive, with yummy jerk chicken. Right down Pico is Shutters On The Beach, a lovely and fancy hotel. I love to go there for drinks in the afternoon, they are right on the beach and the vibe is quite civilized! In Santa Monica, Border Grill is still very good, IMO. The portions are huge, so get a few appetizers or share some entrees to keep the cost (and waste) down. La Serenata di Garibaldi across the street is good to, more Mexico City style food, and very authentic, fair prices, but not cheap. I'm not familiar with places farther south, but I'll make a stab anyway. You could go to Versailles, a Cuban place that is totally cheap and good. I haven't been to the branch mentioned here, but the ones up in LA are great. Plantains, roasted prk or chicken, garlic sauce, and avacodo salad are the calls. On Zagat.com, Gina Lee's Bistro caught me eye. Citysearch Link. I haven't been, but Zagats rates it 25, with food costs at $31 (as opposed to $62 for Spago). Maybe you friends are familiar with it? I am often dissappointed by "mid range" restaurants, finding much better food for the $ either on the low end, or the high end. Maybe if you concentrate on cheaper ethnic places for several meals, you could get your friends to go all out for a big splurge--right now Sona is the LA darling (certainly my favorite spot at the moment) but it is pricey for sure. Best of luck, and please let us know what you decide on!

Olives in a gimlet? I think it would need to be renamed... Gin gimlet, an excellent drink, and one of the few things I can order in almost any bar. (I love Roses, so a heavy hand on the pour, while not my preference, is still okay, and is easily offset by a few extra lime wedges.)

Wow, thanks everyone for the good ieas! I totally lamed out tonight and had chicken chili and a ceasar salad from the Bristol farms takout. Not half bad, though less appetizing than many of the posted dishes sound! I love the frozen components that can be thrown together at the last minute--I need to think this way more often. Also, I should try to make extra food on cooking nights so I can have leftovers/leftover components to work with. Hi Food Zealot! Can you say more about the noodles? Are they from Trader Joe's? They sound like the Vietnamese noodles that come with stir fried veggies. Sam Iam, I love the salad idea, but rarely find myself with much duck confit in the fridge. Any tips?

Okay, I have a few to add. These 2 were inspired by the mint plant going nuts on my front porch: Mint Daquiri (I got the idea from Shulmann but adjusted for house tastes): Handful of mint Muddle the crap out of it (mortar & pestle are best) with 2 tbs superfine sugar Scrape into shaker with 3 oz dark rum and the juice of 1 lime Stir to dissolve sugar Add lots of cracked ice Shake Serve up w/ lime twist This one (ladylike sister of the libation above) remains nameless--I have not come up with a good enough handle for it yet: Handful of mint Muddle as above with 2 tbs superfine sugar Scrape into shaker with 1 1/2 oz Lillet 2 oz gin (Tanqueray 10 was perfect) And the juice of half a large lemon Add lots of cracked ice Shake Serve up w/ lemon twist (Next version of this might include rocks and soda on a hot afternoon) And some other drinks with Lillet, IMHO a very excellent cocktail component: Calais 3 parts gin 1 part cointreau 1 part lillet Shake over ice, serve up w/lemon or orange twist Rudy 1 part Lillet 1 part red grapefruit juice 2 parts gin Shake over ice, serve up w/lemon or orange twist Vesper (Bond's original drink, before Smirnoff came on to the scene): 3 parts gin 1 part vodka 1/2 par lillet Shake over ice, serve up w/lemon twist *All measures are approximate. *Our standard gin is Bombay Sapphire. Cheers!!!

I have those tongs and I like them! The whisk part is BS, but the tongs work nicely for delicate stuff like fish. And so far so good on the locking thing, even in the dishwasher. Though, I must say, I would not trade my trusty kitchen-supply tongs for a lifetime supply of the Moma version!!!

aprilmei- I have the 2 Dorie Greenspan books and I love them both-especially the first one. As a home cook/novice at pastry, I am able to get really impressive results from both books. Nice pictures, too. I am envious of the French speakers who can take advantage of all those beautiful Herme books on Amazon.fr. They look gorgeous!

What do you make when you need a decent meal really fast? I love to dedicate time to cooking, but it is not always an option. I'm looking for ideas for fast homemade or semi homemade dinners. Last night I got home at 9:45. Very little in the house, so I ended up making a take-off on a nicoise salad: Greens Yukon Golds nuked for 5 mins and sliced to cool Hierloom tomato Italian tuna packed in olive oil Capers Dressing was Dijon, caper juice, evoo, lemon juice. Quite serviceable, and did not include frozen pizza or canned soup. Any other ideas out there?

Thanks for the great post, Juanito! I will refer back to your recs the next time I head up to SB.

Thanks Hollywood and Food Zealot for the down-low on Ike and Hamasaku. Must try Ike, as it is not too far from me. Ubon is a weeknight standy for us--not for the noodles, but for the salads and cooked food. We went on Sunday for lunch and had the special Bento Box--it was very Matsuhisa, and included a lot of fabulous stuff (miso-glazed cod, seared scallops, ceviche, toro sashimi w/jalepeno & ponzu, seared albacore with salad, fried rock shrimp w/ creamy mayo sauce, plus soup, rice and pickles), all for $50 for 2 people! Yum! I am also very happy to see so much support for Mori--my fave! Maggiethecat, I think Angelini Osteria is outstanding--probably the best/most authentic Italian in LA. They do really traditional stuff like bass in a salt crust, housemade pastas, etc. I have't been for lunch and would like to hear your impression!

How about Hirozen on Beverly? I think it is a good place for a low-key meal, and the prices are quite reasonable. They often have fresh wasabi, but you have to ask them not to put the other stuff on the sushi pieces. Food Zaelot- Could you say a bit more about these spots? (Price range, reservations needed, specail dishes, etc) I am not familiar with them, and am always on the lookout for new sushi choices. Thanks!

Lissome, Can you say more about the lemon pasta? I have made the Marcella Hazan version and like it very much, but it is super rich and creamy. Is yours similar? Thanks!

Sandra. by Vietnamese pancakes do you mean the big rice-paper rounds that are used for wrapping summer rolls? This sounds like a treat!

Santa Monica Seafood is my favorite. The quality is amazing, the freshness and selection can't be beat, and the advice is good. I go there specifially for their lovely blocks of frozen sushi tuna-- beatifully trimmed, full of flavor, and reasonably priced. My other stand by is the Bristol Farms on Doheny and Beverly. Lots of nice fresh fish, and on my way home from work. I am sure there are cheaper places to get really good fish, but I haven't found them yet.

I have 195, including wine & cocktail books. And one on order.

It may be horribly yuppified, but I sometimes splurge on H&H bagels at Barney Greengrass at Barney's NY. Other than that, I find it best to avoid LA bagels.

Lamb Noisettes, marinated with rosemary, s&p, olive oil. Seared it off in cast iron and stuck it in the oven with a few cloves of garlic. Degalzed w/ red wine for a sauce. Yukon gold potatoes mashed w/ evoo & parmesan. (River Cafe book.) Artichoke hearts and peeled stems, sauteed, seasoned w/ garlic, mint, italian parsley, lemon juice, s&p. (Also River Cafe) Salad was thin sliced hierloom tomatoes with tapenade, coarse sea salt, and evoo. David Bruce Pinot with all, not bad.

Too bad about the rice--it sounded good in theory! What do you mean by "too savory"? What do you think would have worked better? Everything sounds delicious!

I now have a beautiful shelf full of pastry books, including Lesley C's great book (with excellent pix), and the Roux Bothers on Patisserie, and a grand copy of Lenotre from my mother-in-law to be. What I have been lacking is time, so I have not experimented as much as I would have liked. I am still a big fan of the Pierre Herme books, both Desserts and Chocolate Desserts, because the pictures are inspiring, the techniques are very clearly explained, and mainly, I am always very please with the results. (As in, I can't believe I actually MADE that!). The Maglieri books (I have How to Bake, Perfect Pastry, and Perfect Cakes) don't inspire me so much, almost because they have too many choices, and leave too much up to me. The idea of mixing-and-matching cakes, fillings, glazes, etc seems to be better left to more advanced bakers, and many of his ready-made recipes don’t seem to get me going. Also, the cake recipes seem to be mainly cake-with–frosting format, as opposed to the more interesting cakes in the Herme books. (I suspect I need to spend a bit more time on Maglieris before relegating them to the uppermost shelf, though…) I used Sweet Miniatures a few times and had lovely results. Her little coconut cookies (Cocos) are so lovely, I try to keep a log of the dough in the freezer ALL THE TIME. After all the advice, I did lots of shopping on e-Bay and got some fabulous deals. Baking with Julia seems to be available all the time. Thanks for inspiring me to get back to these great books! BTW, amaretti cookies are wonderful crushed up and mounded over halved peaches, sprinkled with wine, and baked.

For a special occasion, the Sierra Mar Restaurant at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur is very, very nice. (The hotel is absolutely unique and wonderful, and the restaurant is its equal.) I got engaged halfway through a great room service dinner--on the deck oustaide of our room, ovelooking the Pacific. (Right after a fabulous mushroom soup, in fact.)

I had some very delicious soups in Italy that might fit the bill: Pappa al Pomodoro, which was a mess of tomato soup with lots of crustless white bread mixed in, very soft. There were liberal amounts of olive oil and salt involved, and a bit of basil. (Gazpacho would be good, too, especially the kind with pureed bread.) Ribolitta, which was a similar mess of very cooked pasta and white beans, also with lots of olive oil. Also, they seemed to really cook the veggies, so they were very soft. This worked particularly well with zuchinni. (Maybe that would be a good bridge for when you start to feel better.) For herbs, you could do herb oils and drizzle them over more boring items. I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Fresh pasta with bolognese sauce, the way my SO makes it. Even in summer...YUM! And anything with tomatoes.

This was so much fun--the dumplings were amazing! I loved the classic pork dumplings with the hot broth inside, and also the soup dumplings. They were all so perfectly pleated--just beautiful, like tiny pieces of couture! I am third from the right, my fiance Trevor is at far right. Many thanks to tissue and zephyr for hosting, and also to food zealot for the pix. (We should have made one of the non-e-gulleters take the pix so you could have been in the line-up!)

JFL- Did you decide? I have never been to Angeli Cafe. I am curious about it beacuse of the Slow Food connection, but the reviews I've read have been less than stellar. If you decide to go you need to give us an update. Could give us a few more perameters: are your kids picky? How old are they? Is there a particular kind of food you want, or want to avoid? I assume you want to go someplace nice enough for it to feel like an evening out, but not super pricey. (And also not too stuffy or uber-trendy as you mentioned.) How about Ita Cho or to Osteria Angelini? They are both reasonably nice, not too trendy, and both have wonderful food. Ita Cho specializes in small, cooked Japanes dishes. (The garlic sprouts with ground pork are my favorite. Other yummies are enoki mushrooms in foil, eggplant with sweet miso, two-day simmered pork, and lotus root.) Osteria has very, very good northern Italian style food, and many nice wines by the carafe and half carafe. I think it is a contender for best Italian in LA. I don't know if Ita Cho takes reservations, but they are a must for Angelini Osteria. Both places get crowded, too, so if you eat on the early side, say 7, you will have a more enjoyable time. My other idea is Taylor's Steak House in Koreatown. I have such a soft spot for that place--such a fabulous old LA vibe, (relatively) cheap but good steaks, and lots of red pleather. You have to be able to appreciate the kitch factor to enjoy it. If you go, be sure to check out the tiny bar on the landing of the stairs. COOL! Or, you could do all us e-Gulleters a favor and check out (and review ) Amuse Cafe (796 Main St. at Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice). Brooke Williamson, the prodigy who was cooking at Zax last year, has just opened it. As I haven't been I can't say a thing about the scene (though I suspect reservations would be wise). But she is a really promising young cook, and this new place is supposed to be fairly informal. Good luck with the plan!

No, the Mori Sushi in LA is different. I go on about it at length here. There is not a huge amount of info online about the restaurant or the chef, Morihiro Onodera. There's an article from the LA times here that mentions his practice of hulling his own rice daily. Edit: I just realized I already went on about Mori earlier in this thread. How embarassing! Oh well, I guess I just think the place deserves a lot of attention.