I don’t know much about wine, but I was fortunate to recently get a few bottles of this Spanish gem, Flor de Pingus. Its fantastic. And also pricey. But the quality/price quotient makes it worthwhile.
Think you’d like to know how much gruyere cheese and butter are in a croque monsieur sandwich?
No, actually you don’t. Shut up and just eat the sandwich. It’s easy enough that even an incompetent bachelor can draw one up in his apartment without too much effort. If you have some whole milk, a little flour, gruyere and parmesan cheese, nutmeg, butter and pepper, you can quickly make the crucial bechamel sauce in a sautee pan over low heat.
I have found the nexus of Silverlake and Koreatown. It is the new gastropub “Beer Belly” on Western Avenue. Every single patron was wearing a plaid shirt or was Korean…or both. Also, every single dish either had a pork product in or had some sort of maple accent or glaze. Amazing for those of us with pig deficiencies in our diet.
Beer Belly, 532 S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90020, (213) 387-2337.
I can’t cook for shit, but like any man, I can make breakfast. A heart attack-inducing breakfast, that is. Try a poached egg, scallions and pepper on pulled pork on freshly baked corn bread. Don’t forget the cholesterol meds.
We live in a fickle eating culture -
Angeli Caffe on Melrose Avenue will be closing after many, many years of providing reasonably priced, high quality casual Italian fare. Fuck, I will miss those gnochetti balls.
This closure on the heels of the imminent closure of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago later this year (which I have not yet experienced) is starting 2012 on an ignominious streak.
I’ve been in a brunch rut lately. I’m tired of the same old places. It’s been like watching the fourth “Police Academy” movie…how many times can I enjoy Steve Guttenberg’s zany antics?
I apologize for that last comment. I’ll never turn on you again, Eugene Tackleberry. I love every Police Academy movie, including and especially “Citizens on Patrol”, although the notion of Cadet Tomoko sleeping on a bed of sharpened needles is still quasi-racist.
Usually I greet Mexican/Latin American fusion restaurants with skepticism. In fact, I usually call bullshit. However, Playa offers really delicious brunch offerings with enough inventiveness that stops just short of straying too far from the familiarity of breakfast comfort cuisine. The maize cake Jewish was a nice, above-average starter that whets the appetite for the corn custard and squash blossom flan, jalapeno waffles with pepita salsa, and eggs benedict with chipotle bearnaise sauce. Wash it down with a couple of pisco sours and a RYE WHISKEY spicy bloody mary, and you can roll home just in time for the afternoon NFL game.
This is currently my favorite brunch place in L.A.
Playa, 7360 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, (323) 933-5300
The French occupation of Vietnam ended in the mid-twentieth century. Despite that anyone who talks about “positive externalities” of colonialism would likely be branded an asshole, I have to admit uniting French baguettes with Vietnamese pork to create banh mi sandwiches is one of the greatest positive externalities of modern times. A close second is Vietnamese coffee.
This was the precursor to the current phenomenon of throwing anything remotely “Asiany” on a baguette and feeding it to the public. I fully support this trend. Behold, an “Asian Sloppy Joe” on a French baguette at the Spice Table. It packs a spicy punch both to your taste buds and your stomach. Yes, those are bonus french fries as a topping.
The Spice Table, 114 S Central Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles 90012, (213) 620-1840.
I had a great time visiting my mom, dad, sisters, nieces and nephew last week in my hometown of Pittsburgh. The weather was beautiful, the view from the Duquesne incline was spectacular, and good times were had by all. Unfortunately, in the south hills of Pittsburgh, house affordability and good public schools are also supplanted by a general lack of food options.
My sister Sandy: “Would it kill this suburb to put in like, a Chipotle or something? Jeez.”
Me: “I would give my left testicle for a mozzarella bar or an oyster shooter right now.”
Ok, I didn’t really mention my left testicle to my sister (that would be weird), but you get my point. The suburbs of Pittsburgh are not a mecca to progressive dining. However, this isn’t to say that people don’t try. When taking the kids to a local farm for the hay rides, I came upon a “pulled pork parfait”. I didn’t try it since I was in a rush, but I am always intrigued when people try to substitute ice cream, chocolate syrup and a cherry with pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and…well, a cherry.
Later that night I dreamt about it and felt deep remorse for not ordering it.
Trax Farms, 528 Trax Road, Finleyville, PA 15332, (412) 835-3246.
Duquesne Incline, 1197 West Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.
Michael Lewis has an excellent piece in Vanity Fair where he hypothesizes about elements of the German national psyche. To cut to the chase, he claims that the Germans’ unconscious affinity for excrement explains a number of their national characteristics, including fiscal and monetary policy.
Um, ok. Whatever. I don’t know about the excrement part, but I do know that I’ve been looking for a German beer and sausage house that is closer to my apartment than Wurstkuche. Voila, we have Wirtshaus. While Wirtshaus is not exactly in the same league as Wurstkuche downtown, it is a splendid place to grab a mid-day beer, pretzel, and schnitzel sandwich.
Germany is now being asked by the rest of Europe to bail it out. On the other hand, I merely asked it to supply me with a mid-town sausage and beer garden. Maybe Europe should start with small requests first. Germany is good with fulfilling those. Just a thought.
Whew!
Wirtshaus, 345 N La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036, (323) 931-9291
El Colmao is a great place to grab a thin, Cuban fried steak and plantains. I’m not sure why anybody goes to Versailles. On an interesting note, this place randomly has my favorite cup of joe: a sweetened macchiato. Perfect to get me through the work day.
El Colmao, 2328 W Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90006, (213) 386-6131.
