Six Days In L.A.

[maggiethecat]

His Handsomeness and I just got back from a few days in L.A. Our adored only child has moved there, so we had a reason to visit a place we probably would never have otherwise seen. Boy, am I glad she's there! I spent some time with her in June and dragged my husband along last week because 1)it was free 2) He had a big birthday to celebrate, one with a zero on the end. And his daughter had specifically said she wanted to see her Daddy.

I'll omit the tourist stuff....although H.H. did see the Pacific Ocean for the first time at Malibu on his birthday. Rode the Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica Pier and biked to Venice. The Getty, the Huntington, etc....

What he did do immediately (he is the King of Food Stores...never goes into a chain wherever we are!) was find our daughter and boyfriend a real supermarket. Sunset and Western (Farm Food? Fresh Foods? I forget.) Fabulous , huge, good bread. He got great shrimp, peppers and chorizo for our jambalaya that night. Also a turkey, all Thanksgiving trimmings, eggs, milk, butter, etc. gin and vermouth, cat food for under 74.00 bucks. It was an enormous amount of good food.

We went to El Pueblo on Sunday and snuggled up to the tortilla trio (Encillada, taco, quesidilla) in a tiny restaurant housed in one of L.A.'s oldest buildings. I thought it was charming that this house was still being used, but I am from the city of Big Shoulders and Big Architecture, It amazed me that Los Angeles seemed to play so fast and loose with some of its oldest remaining buildings. Got a papusa from a woman and her tiny daughter who operated a little griddle/pushcart operation. It was good, 'tho even my usually adventuresome husband and daughter blanched and predicted dire G.I. problems. They didn't happen. Then a walk around Chinatown.

Restaurants? We had shabu-shabu (a first for us) at a place on Sawelle called Mizu 212. Stylish place, great service, impeccable ingredients. H.H. admitted to being a big hairy insensitive gaijin..."Too much work for too little food!", but I would recommend it highly if shabu-shabu is your thing.

For his birthday we went to a Thai place, Chan Dara, on Cahuenga. It's a pretty room, but the most outstanding feature is its extremely comely, friendly and scantily attired wait staff. The Thai toast was excellent, the boned stuffed chicken wings will be reproduced chez nous shortly and the beef with chile and basil sang with happy fresh notes.

There is an amazing place in Glendale called Porto's where we had lunch. It's a bakery, and on Saturday there was a line OUT THE DOOR of people picking up birthday cakes! I'm not a fan of the sheet cake ordinarily, but these were all different and all looked good.

I had the hot roast pork sandwich on Cuban bread with garlic mayo. Good. They also have such fried/carb treats as mashed potato balls stuffed with meat and deep fried and little meat pies in puff pastry. All cheap, fresh and delicious..

But the best meal we had in L.A.....was the Thanksgiving dinner we threw together in my daughter's *tiny* kitchen. H.H. decided to do the Julia thing from Jacques and Julias's book. Remove the backbone of the turkey, remove the drumsticks. Bone the drumsticks, then stuff them with (my) sausage/sage/breadcrumb dressing. Set the breast over a pile of the stuffing. A fourteen pound turkey cooked in under two hours, perfectly.

Our daughter bought an excellent pumpkin pie from a bakery on Los Feliz Blvd., but otherwise we staged the whole mashed potatoes/cranberry orange Grand Marnier relish, /curried carrots, /giblet gravy etc. etc. from about three square feet of counterspace. My own larger kitchen would have been completely trashed. Go figure.

Got back to Chicago. Cold. Dark. Snow predicted. Do you Angelenos really appreciate the paradise you inhabit?

[Suvir Saran]

Thanks for sharing this information. Sounds like a great trip.

What bakery did your daughter get the Pumpkin pie from??

[ivan]

Do you Angelenos really appreciate the paradise you inhabit?

AHEM....yes we do!

Thank you for noticing. Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego have in the last 2-3 decades become amazingly diverse and sophisticated. Sure, we'll never be another NYC, but if you're a fresh-ingredient-hound, there's nowhere better in the US. Southern California ROOLZ!!!!

[hollywood]

Glad you made it to Olvera Street (El Pueblo) and to Porto's for the Cuban sandwiches. There is better Thai food than Chan Darae (which is not bad though somewhat Americanized) but there are no prettier waitresses year in and out. They have an ad on cable in which a throaty voice says "Come to Chan Dara." Sort of like Come with me to Cazbah.

I'm trying to place the market you went to. I'm thinking Food 4 Less which may be owned by Ralph's which is actually a pretty good chain that increasingly stocks ethnic items (most recently at their Hollywood & Western location).

There's lots more food so come again.

[mixmaster b]

Glad you enjoyed your trip!!

Sometimes I think that if everyone really knew all the great thing about LA, they would ALL move here immediately. So the reputation of being crass, tacky, shallow, and obsessed with celebrities serves us well by keeping to population to a bearable size.

(And this from a Berkeley raised one-time LaLa land detractor!)

Actually, there are great things to be enjoyed almost everywhere--you just have to have an open mind and seek out the good stuff!

[maggiethecat]

I'm trying to place the market you went to.  I'm thinking Food 4 Less which may be owned by Ralph's which is actually a pretty good chain that increasingly stocks ethnic items (most recently at their Hollywood & Western location).

There's lots more food so come again.

No, it's Sunset and Western, and it is huge. Pretty sure it's not affililiated with a chain (too funky and real), but of course I could be wrong. Hang on...I'll go find my Lonely Planet L.A.

I'm Back. It's called the Farm Fresh Ranch Market, 5520 Sunset. To quote:"Located in Little Armenia, this amazing market is famous for its United Nations of edibles and shoppers. Pick up fresh Bulgarian feta, Greek Kalamata olives, banana leaves for tamales, chorizo from El Salvador, Russian style pickled herring, or freshly baked Mexican bollilos. (Note:I can attest to the excellence of these buns) Prices are low, especially for produce, meat, fish and baked items."

And I know we haven't even started to taste L.A. The daughter just got a job at the L.A. Philharmonic, so we'll be back!

[hollywood]

I'm trying to place the market you went to.  I'm thinking Food 4 Less which may be owned by Ralph's which is actually a pretty good chain that increasingly stocks ethnic items (most recently at their Hollywood & Western location).

There's lots more food so come again.

No, it's Sunset and Western, and it is huge. Pretty sure it's not affililiated with a chain (too funky and real), but of course I could be wrong. Hang on...I'll go find my Lonely Planet L.A.

I'm Back. It's called the Farm Fresh Ranch Market, 5520 Sunset. To quote:"Located in Little Armenia, this amazing market is famous for its United Nations of edibles and shoppers. Pick up fresh Bulgarian feta, Greek Kalamata olives, banana leaves for tamales, chorizo from El Salvador, Russian style pickled herring, or freshly baked Mexican bollilos. (Note:I can attest to the excellence of these buns) Prices are low, especially for produce, meat, fish and baked items."

And I know we haven't even started to taste L.A. The daughter just got a job at the L.A. Philharmonic, so we'll be back!

Now I know the place you are speaking of. Sounds like I should check it out. Did your daughter take you by the new Philarmonic/Disney Concert Hall by Gehry? Might be worth a trip when it opens.

[MHesse]

My wife's daughter, she's been my step since she was six also lives in LA now. Lives in Venice a block from the ocean, teaches yoga, has a bulldog as handsome as Momo.

We also went out out last year and had Thanksgiving with her and her friends. We cooked. It's nice out there.

My wife is back again this year. Alas, I've just started a new job and didn't have any time to get away.

After saving my strength for a Fairway foray here in Manhattan, or a trip to a tiny supermarket, almost any food store in CA seems dreamy. And you can put the bags in the car instead of carrying them or wheeing them home in the cart.

--mark

[awbrig]

Louisiana does nothing for me....

[hollywood]

Louisiana does nothing for me.... 

You're confused. Toomuch/not enough Britney.