Sandwiched between more casual fare, Orris is the type of place you could easily miss. It looks like a posh izakaya, a single room of close-set tables and some counter seating, pleasantly packed and respectfully low-key. A big, chiseled Okinawan (a man you could mistake for Beat Takeshi’s gangster brother) lords over the open kitchen: this is Hideo Yamashiro, the owner and chef.

Yamashiro (known by L.A. foodies as “Shiro”) is also the owner and chef of Shiro in South Pasadena. With Orris, he hones in on the sublimity of the small plate. He shops for his own ingredients daily, then serves up French-Japanese fusion cuisine, one of the many great gifts to come out of “the creative capital of the world.”

The four of us ordered two dishes each and split them all. Our first dish, the albacore lettuce cups, was gone in a crisp flash, leaving a tang of aioli and jalapeno. Our next plate came just as we finished the first, and was Yuri’s favorite: tuna tartare, accented with pignoli nuts and quail eggs.

The warm snapper carpaccio, a thin layer of white fish pressed to the plate, was third. Seasoned Szechuan-style and drizzled with bean paste, the flavors played together so well we could picture them holding hands and graduating from charm school.

We polished off the curry-infused shrimp (sprinkled with Okinawan sea salt) and free range chicken karaage. We wanted to bottle the perfect dipping sauces and sell them on eBay for millions.

The basil-marinated black cod was delicious, but not a showstopper (we still prefer Andre Guerrero’s): Shiro’s smoked salmon croquettes, however, were. These perfect little specimens -– perched on top of potato cakes, and topped with onion, chives, creme fraiche, and salmon caviar -– are so good you don’t even want to chew.

While we mulled, glassy-eyed, over dessert –- a flourless chocolate cake with coffee gelato, a raspberry wonton with cream sauce -– Shiro set aside his big chef’s hat, sat down at one of his own counter seats, and rested, with some red wine and a small plate of cheese. He looked serious but tired, massaging his temples, like he’d been cutting marble all day.

We asked our waiter to pay our compliments to the chef. Shiro grinned and bowed graciously. Forget Hollywood, we thought: here was an artist, right in the heart of Sawtelle, with good manners to boot.

Orris
2006 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025
(310) 268-2212 (no reservations accepted)

Step inside this restored 1928 Spanish mission-style cottage, located on Riverside in Toluca Lake, and you might think you’ve been transported to somewhere in the exotic Spanish or Latin American countryside. D’Caché is a lively restaurant where they serve modern Latin-fusion cuisine, tapas and fine wines and great drinks. Try a fresh Columbian mojito made from Aguardiente and fresh mint or raspberry, melon and strawberry mojitos and margaritas.

The converted house has medium-sized dining rooms and secluded patios with comfy sofas to lounge on underneath white draperies. The back patio also has a pretty fountain. Out there, the two-seater tables are made from huge, polished discs of wood, hand-hewn from a large tree they had to lop down in the backyard. These beautiful tables are remarkable!

D’Caché also has a smoking patio and inside there is a small private room with a ‘U’ shaped couch and a TV. Perfect for a laid-back board meeting.

Before I get to the outstanding cuisine, one feature of the experience is the Rumba Gipsy and world music performances every night. The live entertainment starts at 7pm and goes until 9.30pm or so, Tuesday ’till Saturday evenings.

I went on a Wednesday evening and the musicians were incredible. Bandidos de Amor, a talented trio of flamenco-style guitarists and singers, sounded a lot like the Gipsy Kings and played plenty of boisterous music of that flavor.

So, to start with drinks, any Spanish restaurant worth their salt had better offer sangria. At D’Caché they concoct an exotic blend of three wines with gin and perfume it with cinnamon and brandy infused apples. Also their wine list is fairly extensive and features wine from Chile, Argentina and Spain as well as domestic varieties, all priced at around $8-9 per glass, bottles also available.

We started with the soupe du jour – wild mushroom soup ($9). This was unctuous and incredibly rich and delicious; a caramelized-sweet, smooth soup that was fragrant with truffle oil. Just fantastic!

With only twelve appetizers and eight entree dishes on the menu, you can tell the kitchen does it all well. We started with a serving of three large empanadas ($12) filled with slow-cooked shredded pork and dressed with a confetti of mango salsa. Lovely! Other appetizers to snack on include tapas such as Patacones con Cerviche – shrimp cocktail over fried plantains – or a variety of pizette.

Main courses include Spanish classics such as a smoky and seafood-packed Paella ($32) and Pollo Catalan. They also offer seared blue fin tuna with a cilantro crust and a warm salad of asparagus and greens.

Brazilian-style Lamb chops, crusted with pistachio pesto ($42), were perfectly cooked. The basil and truffle oils almost gild the lily, but the red wine reduction cuts through the rich sauce like Zorro!

Everything was very rich, so order wisely, but like a siren’s song, the best flavors of all Latin cultures at D’Caché will call you to return again and again.

Valet and street parking available.

D’Caché Restaurant, 10717 Riverside, Toluca Lake, between Lankershim and Cahuenga.
(818) 506 9600.
Open 5pm ’till midnight, Tues - Sat.
Sunday and Monday – only open for special events.

That changed when a college buddy arrived for a month of working at Mount Wilson. It marked my first time spending any appreciable time in Pasadena. Looking for places to eat and drink, we stumbled on an ad for Crown City Brewing Company. My buddy, now an executive chef in Manhattan, and I clocked endless stool hours at Cambridge Brewing, so score!

Walking in to the pub felt like turning the corner into a home away from home. The first night there was great, chatting with the bartenders (and one of the owners), enjoying a pint and the above
average pub grub. Shockingly on my next visit, the staff greeted us warmly, as if we were visiting friends. Wha? No surprise folks always mention Cheers when trying to describe the place.

Wasn’t long after those first visits that I became a regular. Every week, Wednesday night, Drew night. Even in the midst of 100-hour workweek projects, I still found my way to my stool for a few pints
and worked my way through several “100 Mug Club” cards on my way to a serious case of brew knowledge. The staff kindly critiqued and encouraged my first attempts at brewing. I don’t think they knew what a beer monster they were creating.

Founded by four friends and inspired by San Diego’s new born brew scene, Crown opened in 1988 just south of Pasadena’s Central Park and began serving their Arroyo Amber and Mount Wilson Wheat to the masses. On top of their house beers, the pub stocks over a hundred bottled beers and 30 more draft beers, an astonishing selection for our burg. Until the brewery finally broke down in 2002, Crown held the distinction of being Los Angeles’ oldest operating brewpub. Pasadena’s Craftsman Brewing picked up the slack and provides the pub with its flagship brews.

With the recent opening of the Del Mar Station apartments, things are changing on the south side of Old Town, starting with the Crown’s closing. A combination of inadequate parking, tough competition and their landlord’s refusal to grant a new long-term lease is forcing the boys out. The remaining partners are searching for space to open the “Crown 2″, but there are no firm plans yet.

Now as the brewery prepares to close on May 31st, the beer list is winding down and customers with their names on the wall can fetch
their plaques. I have four waiting for me! Stop in, grab a pint and a
lavosh and say goodbye to a piece of LA brewing history and the great
folks that made it happen.

Crown City Brewing Company (until May 31st)
300 S Raymond (at Del Mar)
Pasadena, CA 91105
626-577-5548

[photo from their website]

I occasionally like to imbibe a cocktail or dine in a hotel. It feels extra glamorous and I can pretend I’m a traveller in a foreign land. So when a visiting friend suggested we meet for lunch at the Hotel Intercontinental, on Avenue of the Stars, I jumped at the chance to put on a pretty frock and heels (despite LA’s pre-emptive June gloom – okay, I added a chic cardie, aka sweater) and tool over there.

The Park Grill dining room at the Hotel Intercontinental is surprisingly unpretentious. Diners can relax in the clubby atmosphere of the dining room, with its gay, striped carpeting and comfy, upholstered armchairs.

Beyond the large, glass french doors lies the garden patio, where I’m sure we would have dined had it been a sunny day. It’s an attractive and intimate little garden and the umbrella’d dining tables skirt an expanse of lawn. Apparently this is a popular venue for weddings.

The menu offers a decent range of two soups, several salads and sandwiches, a few hot meals and desserts. My dining companion went for the great sounding watermelon and spinach salad ($15). This came out as a kind of log cabin of sticks of watermelon with a mass of baby spinach, chunks of chevre and candied walnuts in the middle. On either side of the ‘cabin’, the long, rectangular plate was attractively drizzled with the mango dressing as well as cross-hatched drizzles of vibrantly ‘kermit’ green basil oil. Now, while this looked impressive, in fact it’s a little tough to get the dressing off the plate and onto your food. But the baby spinach was also lightly dressed and sprinkled with black sesame seeds (love them!) so this wasn’t an issue, just a tiny bit irksome.

She also ordered a prosciutto and arugula pizza ($19) that was, shall we say, extremely disappointing. Suffice to say, upon reflection, one probably shouldn’t go to a hotel and expect them to have a roaring pizza furnace…

I opted for the ‘Bento Box’ ($35) as it gave me four small courses with two options per course. It arrived all at once, on a large, white, square ceramic platter with four smaller square dishes within.

The soup was the soup du jour; a chicken broth with a hint of lime, neat cubes of breast meat and finely chopped vegetables. Delicious! Of the two salads, I went with the wild rocket salad. It was studded with candied walnuts (actually, too many…), sweet slivers of dried pear, and a couple of teeny little heirloom tomatoes. The rocket was generously dressed with a rich balsamic vinaigrette that was perfumed with white truffle oil. Rich and satisfying. I couldn’t imagine a whole bowl of it; it worked really well as one small course of four. It also came with two batons of plain but toasted crostini.

The ‘entree’ portion of this bento was one of their cooked entrees, and I would recommend dining at the Park Grill for this dish alone. A small but sufficient hunk of Chilean Sea Bass, beautifully cooked, was resting on a bed of ‘forbidden’ black rice that actually looks dark red. The modest portion of fish was served with two gorgeously braised and grilled wedges of endive and a sprinkling of soft greens. It was superb!

For my fourth course I went with the plate of fruit over the pastries, and I was glad I did. A sprinkling of blueberries, boysenberries and raspberries were complemented by a slice each of honeydew melon, cantaloupe, orange and pineapple. All the fruits were exquisitely ripe. This was a perfectly balanced, filling and delicious meal.

I noticed they are doing a special buffet for Mother’s Day. I definitely think hotels are the ideal place to pamper the grande dame in your life. I’ve already raved about the exquisite afternoon tea at the Peninsular Hotel.

But the Hotel Intercontinental might be just the place for a family gathering. If it’s a nice day, you can dine outside and the kids can run about on the grass. There will be a band performing soul, jazz and Latin music.

The buffet menu is pretty extensive and has something for everyone. Highlights from the menu include:

Kid friendly choices such as wild berry mini pancakes, triple decker peanut butter sandwich, mini BLTs, mini nutella and banana club sandwiches and baby sliders.

Assortment of miniature breakfast pastries and a seasonal sliced fruit display. Egg dishes include omelettes by request and crab eggs benedict with paprika hollandaise.

There are salads such as mushroom and shrimp salad with green papaya, multicolored heirloom tomato salad with bocconcini and aged balsamic reduction, ahi tuna salad ‘a la nicoise’, grilled marinated artichoke salad with Asian beef and so on.

In addition to a sushi and sashimi display, there’ll be shrimp, mussels, oysters, clams and crab claws. Pasta dishes include truffle gnocchi with sage and brown butter or wild mushroom risotto.

Barbecue items include prime rib eye steak, citrus marinated organic white salmon, and baby lamb chops marinated with whole grain mustard and lavender. Loads of grilled and roasted vegetables, such as parmesan grilled corn on the and roasted vegetables with fresh cilantro and lemon oil.

Assorted cakes and desserts, including panacotta, tarts, pies, cookies, brownies and blondies and even a sweet crepes station with fresh fruit sauces.

This gastronomic spread will cost $68 for adults and $34 children 4-12, (with no charge for children 3 and under).

Happy Mother’s Day!

Park Grill, Hotel Intercontinental

2151 Avenue of the Stars,
Los Angeles
Front Desk: (310) 2846500

[FYI – Validated valet parking was $6.00]