boar_d_laze

Can't help on the Ethiopian. I like Kings, okay. The oysters are a little pricey though, as with most places. And for that matter I like 555 across the street -- owned as you no doubt know by the same folks. 555 might have a claim as one of the best steak restaurants in SoCal. Speaking of which, we had a very disappointing meal at Taylor's (near downtown) the other night. If you're like Mexican food and fish I can definitely turn you on to a few mariscos restaurants well above the "stand" level. At least in decor and price. One of them, "La Sirena" on Peck is just a few blocks from the 605/10 intersection. Good food, good bar. Also, a nice selection of antojitos. Unfortunately, I'm not all that conversant with this type of food in the South Bay. If you're very tolerant to spice you must try the mojarra frita a la diabla at El Jacalito on Valley in El Monte. It is moist, flavorful, and more incendiary than any recent nuclear test. All the food there is extremely well prepared. Decent selection of bottled beers, but the margaritas are made from some sort of mix legal on a beer/wine license. My wife likes them, though. Even so, the place is an absolute treasure. The Sunday brunch buffet with pancakes, etc., against the backdrop of that spicy fish and live Mexican music is, as you say, hallucinatory. Meanwhile, back at the rancho ... some of those stands and catering trucks have the most incredible food. There's something odd about eating a truly memorable menu off a paper plate leaning against the fender of your car, isn't there? Or, maybe not. There's a guy in LA who foodblogs Mexican taco carts, and he's found a few beauts. "One never know, do one?" Rich

Russ, I've driven by the plaza on the way from my Monrovia home to my (ouch!) dentist in Torrance, but have never stopped there. The dentist in question is also a cousin, serious foodie, and moderate chile head -- may have to do lunch with him there. Too bad we missed 9/14 for the en nogada, but will definitely give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation. Speacing of recomendations, where do you like for mariscos? Especially ostiones (oysters)? Always on the lookout for a good bivalve. Rich PS Have you ever been to El Mercado del Este de Los Angeles? The food is fine, but it's not the food. It's the everything else. It's a place that could only exist here in SoCal, I think.

Tammy, I'm sorry if you felt I dissed Ann Arbor. I meant no disrespect, but only to say that the possibilities here are far wider. The Chinese population of Los Angeles, 400,000+, is greater than three times the total population of Ann Arbor, 120,000, and almost half of Detroit's total pop. It doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of the culinary possibilities. But it's suggestive. Chicago, with the second largest population of Mexicans in the U.S., about 3/8 the size of L.A.'s has some very good Mexican possibilities. But, the one actual dis I made was in the direction of Rich Bayless -- not because I don't like his food but because his sensibility is not the pure native experience. It's "cuisine." Worth the money, worth a special trip perhaps. Just different. Haven't been in El Paso for years. But how bad could it be? Rich

I don't get to "Little India" in Artesia very often, but can recommend Ashoka, Updui and India Restaurant as very good. I like New Delhi Palace in Pasadena. My personal favorite(s) are the Akbar's of Marina Del Rey, Pasadena, and Santa Monica which serve a sort of nouvelle Indian that's a lighter take on the normal. Simla Pinks in Rosemead (near all the great Chinese restaurants on Valley Blvd) is wonderful, but was closed for remodeling last time I went by. Call them before you go. Don't take their word on their website for anything but their phone number. There are so many opportunities for Chinese food here, if you could supply some guidance as to what you do and don't like it would be helpful. For instance, do you like small, cheap and funky? Do you have a hankering for dim sum at dinner? Want to try Chinese halal (moslem kosher)? Best xiao loon bao outside of asia? Huge dim sum palaces holding half of SoCal on a Sunday morning? Or the best dim sum? Just going for the lobster? Best fried fish (alas, no chips)? Lots of Hong Kong, Chinese, and Taiwan money here, not to mention 2d generation, Chinese are major foodies, and its reflected in the restaurants of the San Gabriel Valley. Lots of choices, and the competiton is fierce. It's hard to find a bad place. Of the small, funky and quirky there's one place, "Dumpling Master" that does some of the best pan fried dumplings anywhere. If that's not enough their hand made noodles are tied for first with "Heavy Noodling," another Monterey Park hole in the wall. And if that's still not enough, how about the best scallion pancakes anywhere? Plus if two of you can find a way to spend $30 you're entitled to some kind of overeating prize. About three minutes off the freeway on Atlantic Blvd., and only open from around 11 to around 6 depending on how they feel. Mexican food possibilities are an endless treasure trove here. Even richer than Chinese. Come November, I'd like to see you plan for El Mercado del Este de Los Angeles (East L.A. Market, on East 1st, just west of Lorena) for a weekend lunch. 4 or 5 little restaurants, all very good, around the mezzanine of a huge indoor market. Several mariachi groups going at the same time. Big time flea market outside and in the basement. Much seeing and being seen. Spanish and English, but mostly Spanglish spoken. Talk about an experience! Very East L.A. Orale! (Bring a friend as most women wouldn't be comfortable unaccompanied.). You won't run into a lot of tourists, or for that matter many other gabachos. Olvera Street this ain't. Also, on your Mexican food pilgramage you'll want to try a few of the varied moles and clayudas of Oaxacan cuisine and don't forget to drop in on a Salvadorean place for pupusas. Toto, I don't think we're in Ann Arbor any more. Rich

Every place you've mentioned is a good one. If you enjoy asian food, especially sushi, you might want to give one of the sushi places in Korea Town (not too far from WeHo) a try. I can recommend Arado on Wilshire and A-Won on Vermont very highly. Although nominally "Japanese Restaurants" the Koreans have a very unusual take. A Korean sushi meal is about 90% sashimi and a wonderful variety of side dishes known collectively as pan-chon. If you do go Korean, make sure to try jap-jae (yam noodles with mushroom and sesame) -- must love guarantee. FWIW, the best sushi in West LA is not to be found on Sawtelle, but in two places: first, a restaurant that used to be located there but moved to Brentwood. "Sasabune," 12400 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 150 Brentwood; and the other is Echigo, in West LA, at 12217 Santa Monica Blvd, upstairs in a shabby mini-mall. Toshi-san, the owner/chef at Echigo apprenticed under Nobi-san, the owner/chef at Sasabune, and is at least his equal. Both of these places are very traditional sushi bars -- don't go expecting "creative rolls" only a gai-jin could love. Both serve fish and rice at their finest. As good as anything in Tokyo. Not cheap. If you don't mind a dive, there's an area known as "Thai Town" east of WeHo in "East Hollywood." East Hollywood is really just a name for a part of LA that's got nothing else in particular going for it. But, I digress. There are some truly wonderful places. I especially recommend Palms Thai Restaurant in a crowded strip mall at 5900 Hollywood. If you're lucky you'll be serenaded by Kevin, the "Thai Elvis." Thai food that's as thai as food gets. The no kidding around real thing. Yenta fo with extra fish balls. Yum. Rich

knoxy, I was at Fora once. Very good. Excellent even. It was $50/person for the prix fixe with wine on a week night, and $40 without. Worth the money, but outside of Tammy's price range and I don't know if it's worth taking the 710. I'd rate it about even with "Joe's" in Venice, or maybe a hair better if value for money counts. It's not quite as exciting as 561 in Pasadena, the restaurant run by Le Cordon Bleu students. Actually, I'd send someone from out of town on her way to Norwalk to Joe's before Fora -- because they're more likely to celebrity spot at Joe's, plus the whole Abbot Kinney Blvd scene is so L. A., plus Venice is more accessible. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Like Fora's, 561 is too expensive (more expensive than Fora, actually), and too out of the way. But considering it's association with Le Cordon Bleu ... I haven't been to Fringale since it was "Bacchus." Also very good, and more reasonably priced than Fora. For the money, one of the better Euros in greater Los Angele, but still a Euro and not "world class" or uniquely Southern Californian. Plus (or minus) it's in Long Beach. Getting there isn't bad, but getting out can be miserable. Perhaps I was too glib in dismissing Long Beach's gustatory delights -- which are many. And I hope you don't think I'm being pompous or snobby. Fora and Fringale are great suggestions. They're moderately sized French restaurants owned and operated by talented chefs. That's a good thing, but not particularly Southern Californian. I tried suggesting restaurants that were more or less en route, easy on and off the freeway, reflected the uniquely Los Angeles characteristic of "as far away as you can get, without going anywhere," and served cuisine of a type and quality which a Tammy would be unlikely to find anywhere else for under $40/person including drinks and tip. Rich

Tammy, I don't know where I got that idea either. Well, definitely more sophisticated than the Chinese food you'd find in Ann Arbor. Carolyn's right about the Japanese food in Gardena -- and West Los Angeles also for that matter -- but $40/person doesn't stand a chance for dinner at a good sushi place in SoCal. Lunch, maybe, if you don't ask for shashimi. Omakase which roughly trnaslates to "chef's choice" is definitely not happening for much less than a $60 a pop. If you are a sushi maven, there are a number of high-end Korean sushi bars which give any Japanese place in L. A. (or Tokyo for that matter) a run for their money. Korean cuisine of all types can be had at very high levels in Los Angeles. However, the restaurants are inconveniently located for you, and the sushi joints are way out of your price range. Then there's Mexican food. There are more Mexicans living in greater Los Angeles than anywhere outside of Mexico City. Mexican food is ubiquitous, inexpensive and quite often incredibly delicious. We see so much of it here, that we don't appreciate how good our Mexican and other mezo-American restaurants are. At any rate there are a number of good places right along your route, and a very interesting Oaxacan joint, "Guelegetza," not too far out of the way, about 10 minutes off the freeway (if it's not rush hour.) The food is great, very spicy but not hot. No trouble for the Michigan palate. The clientele is great too. Enjoy the famalies and the tribal resemblance. Also, they've got some serious Mexican music going. About $20 per person including drinks and tip. Excellent selection of tequilas and mezcals. It's only a block or so away from a very good Korean barbecue place, Tahoe Galbi -- so if you want to try Korean barbecue, maybe it isn't too much trouble after all. Good Korean barbecue is a real trip, and "Tahoe Galbi" is very good. If you go there, tell them you want charcoal -- not gas -- barbecue. Great steak done in the Korean style. Try Bak Sae Jue, it's a sweet Korean wine flavored with herbs. Supposedly very healthy. And, as they say, "the ladies love it." About $40 after all is said and done. Well worth it. The other place I recommended, "El Jacalito" in El Monte, is more of a good neighborhood place, with a few regional dishes -- but mostly it's pan-Mexican. The food is excellent, but if you're not a chile person you might find the heat level high. Another El Monte Mexican place you might like is "La Sirena" which specializes in Mexican seafood ("mariscos"). Excellent appetizer/finger foods (antojitos). Good bar, too. Figure $20. But, go for the Chinese. It's of a quality and sophistication like nothing you've ever had or seen. Rich

Nothing against Long Beach, there are some very nice places, it's a charming city within the city. But there's no place I would rate as "incredible" or "world class." There are several which meet those criteria within your budget along the Santa Monica/San Bernadino (10) Freeway -- more or less on your way -- in the San Gabriel Valley. Furthermore, the Long Beach Freeway (the 710) is seldom easy, and usually very difficult. It is the corridor containers travel between the train yards downtwon and the busiest commercial harbor in the country, the Port of Los Angeles. "Lu Din Gee," the duck place in San Gabriel, charges about $40 for their Duck Three Ways. It's more than enough for two. (With a companion, you've got room for drinks, dessert, and a generous tip.) First, they serve the skin and the best parts of the breast with pancakes, scallions and fermented sweet bean sauce -- regular Beijing duck -- maybe, but somehow better. Second way: The rest of the breast along with the thigh with sprouts. Somehow they manage to make the most unctious of meats taste delicious and healthy at the same time. Don't know how they do it. Last, duck soup. Also, light and refreshing. Again, how do they do that? The place also has a wider selection of konyaku than anywhere else in the known universe. Plus other very chinese delights. It's well blogged, you don't have to take my word for it. It's on a main street, a straightforward five minutes and two turns off the freeway. They require at least one hour's notice for the duck. They're demographic section is well-off first or second generation thirty or forty somethings and their parents. At any rate there are a multitude of Chinese restaurants along the 10 corridor for every taste and budget -- a few of them world class. If you're arriving in the morning, there are a couple of dim sum places which rival anywhere in Hong Kong. But these places are very time sensitive. I hestitate to send you anywhere you'll have to wait for more than an hour. Chinese might be a good idea, in that part of your adventure will be the difference between NYC's "Chinatown" and Los Angeneles' "China Valley." There is just so much here. Something else you don't see much of in New York City is real, actual, and in fact, Mexican restaurants filled with real, actual, and in fact, Mexicans. If you like very spicy fish, I recommend the mojarra frita (whole, unbreaded, deep-fried talapia) a la diabla at the neighborhood Jalisco style Mexican restaurant in El Monte, "El Jacalito," also on Valley Blvd. Also about five minutes off the freeway. But I warn you, if you get it with salsa diabla you better like hot food. They pretty much want a waiver from Anglos before they'll serve it. They also serve it without the sauce. The fish us almost always cooked to a turn and grease-free. It's served with a separate plate of french fries, beans, rice, lettuce with guacamole, and everything else you could imagine would be good in a tortilla. And, oh yes, the corn tortillas are hand made fresh while they're cooking the rest of your dinner. About $12 for dinner. They serve beer and margaritas. There are a number of other Mexican places... Perhaps something Oaxacan? These aren't the usual American-drenched-in-melted-cheese places, and they aren't fusion interpretations by Rick Bayless either. They're the real deal. Korea Town (we call it K-Town) is probably too far out of the way in terms of time and traffic. Much as I like the dining possibilities in the general area, and much as I like to send New Yorkers there, if you're not on a mission to seek out great Korean -- forget it for this trip. Ditto "Thai Town" in "East Hollywood." Considering your budget limitations, sushi is right out. Rich

You like ethnic? No problem. You're 10 minutes from "Little India." You're 10 minutes from "Little Saigon." You're 1/2 an hour from the San Gabriel Valley, with the highest concentration of great asian restaurants of anywhere in the world. The chinese food here kicks NYC's butt. You're 45 minutes (or less) from Korea Town -- with it's wonderful barbecues and "Japanese Restaurants." You can eat the most wonderful Mexican cuisine -- and I do mean cuisine -- almost anywhere in SoCal. Woman, what do you want to eat? How about duck? Lu Din Gee in San Gabriel has Beijing style Duck Three Ways. The skin is like lacquered sugar. Best xiao loon bao? Best dim sum? Pho dac biet? Mojarra frita in salsa diabla? Yen ta fo with extra fish balls? Big ol' steak? $100/person Korean sushi? Cunning little places off the main drag with great Euro-American cuisine? I'm no expert when it comes to Norwalk particularly, but greater Los Angeles is hardly a culinary wasteland. Rich

Martinis long ago entered the realm of self-expression. There is no one right way -- only the way you like best. In my opinion, the perfect martini tastes like cold nothing. The gin and vermouth, neither particularly pleasant on their own, when mixed properly make the perfect subtraction. I am a martini drinker of long standing. A decade or so (oy!) ago I switched from using a fair bit of vermouth to using almost none after I started drinking at Musso Franks in Hollywood. Nevertheless, the vermouth wash method gives the martini a less ginny nose. I prefer Boodles, but regular Tanqueray and Bombay are almost as good. Gordons, Beefeaters, Plymouth, etc., are fine. The newer, drier gins such as Sapphire are not as good for martinis. Speaking of preferences, there are a variety of stuffed olives out there all of them wonderful. Something other than pimento may be heterodox, but in a drink this ritualized the olive stuffing is one the few legitimate improvisations. I always put three olives on each stick: Usually jalapeno, anchovy, and blue cheese. 1) Fill a shaker with ice, add gin in a sufficient quantity. Step away from the shaker. Working quickly in an organized fashion through the following steps will give the ice a chance to dilute the gin to the exactly correct proportion. 2) Fill a martini glass with ice cubes and add approximately 1/2 an ounce of dry vermouth, Noilly Prat is a good vermouth but Martini is better. Why do you think they call it a martini? 3) Prep the olive stick 4) Swirl the vermouth in the glass several times, letting it wash up to the rim. This chills and scents the glass. Discard the ice and vermouth. 5) Place the olive sticks in the glass. 6) Shake the gin vigorously. It is cold enough to drink when the shaker is uncomfortably cold to the touch. 7) Strain the gin over the olives into the chilled and scented glass. The martini should appear very cloudy, with a skin of ice on the top. These signs mean the gin is properly diluted and at the proper temperature. 8) Apply internally. PRN. Do not be afraid to rechill if you can't finish your drink before it warms up. Even sith lords do not drink warm martinis. Rich "A cocktail without a vegetable is no cocktail at all." "A martini should taste like a frozen cloud." "Brrruizhing the gin izh a good thing, Pushy."