First of all, we were initially disappointed because their famous orange cheesecake was out. The staff did recommend the Oreo cheesecake as an alternative. They said they make it exactly the same way, just with a different filling and crust. The cheesecake was delightful. We were all impressed with how it has the same rich flavor as other cheesecakes but without the heaviness. I’m usually not a fan of an Oreo crust because I find it to be too dry for my taste, but the crust of this cheesecake was just right. We also really enjoyed the raspberry chocolate cake. We were pleasantly surprised to find actual raspberries in the cake, not raspberry filling. The raspberries were fresh and not drowned in sickening sweet syrup. This was one of the best cakes I’ve had in a while. Our last selection was the apple tart. I’ve eaten a lot of apple tarts, and the trend seems to be making apple slices as thin as possible and layering them. Susina’s apple tart, however, was topped with a generous amount of thick slices. Each bite is filled with a very strong apple presence. As we were leaving, I decided to buy something to go to give to my mother. I picked a blueberry custard tart and some Italian cookies. My mother started off intending to have just a bite, just to taste. She finished the whole thing in one sitting. She did offer me a taste, and just like the three desserts my friends and I shared, this one was absolutely wonderful. The blueberries were fresh, the custard was creamy, and the crust was crispy but not dry. The cookies were also a nice little treat. The cakes and tarts were approximately $5, while the cookies were $20 per pound. (I spent about $2 on a handful of the bite-size cookies.) We all felt that Susina’s price is very reasonable for a taste of heaven.

You can purchase whole cakes and pies and even place orders in advance. Susina is more than just sweets and pastries though. I haven’t had anything other than beverages and desserts here, but Susina also offers soups, salads, sandwiches, quiches, and lasagnas. The staff is incredibly friendly and amiable. There is parking available in the parking lot behind the building, but be careful of where you park. Not all the spaces are for Susina, and the spaces are stacked, so you may be blocked in (or be blocking someone else in).

Susina Bakery & Cafe
7122 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 934-7900
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-11pm, Sat-Sun 8am-11pm

The food at AOC as a whole was good, our wine was good, the cheese was great, and they were accommodating to the BF’s vegan-ness, which is always a nice thing. I wouldn’t mind going there again, maybe for our next anniversary to try some of their other cheeses. I saw that they had something called a Stinking Bishop cheese from England that I’m curious to taste.

Electric Karma
8222 1/2 W Third St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (323) 653-2121

Speaking of Karma … I am writing a new blog called KarmalizedLife. Feel free to check it out!
With gratitude for great Indian food - FoodFlirt90210

In a rather savvy cross-promotion (actually, a no-brainer, when you think about it…) the delightful ice-cream parlor and café on Beverly, Milk, teamed up with the Got Milk? people (namely, the Cali Milk Processor Board) to host an open house last night.

I spotted a handful of fellow bloggers, including the gorgeous Kristy of Best of LA and met Javier the teenage glutster who is going to have to change his blog name any day now, once he ‘comes of age’ - lol

I met the gal who writes Mikey Hates Everything and she even came with two - uh - robot dudes in biz suits…

I also got to catch up with the dashing and daring Eddie Lin of Deep End Dining fame.

A few people asked after you, Jonah, but the words ‘new baby’ and ‘Westside’ seemed to explain your absence (!)

Over the past year, Bret Thompson (former Corporate Executive Chef of the Patina Restaurant Group, Michelin trained, and now owner and executive chef of Milk,) has been tantalising the palates of Angelinos with his delectable treats at Milk. Through this unique partnership with the Got Milk? campaigners, Thompson has adapted and now shares the secret recipes to some of Milk’s most divine sweet desserts – from the ever-so-popular Milky Way Melt (which I did not sample) to the pan-Latin-inspired Berry Tres Leches, which was out of this world!

Bret’s recipes can now be found on their really cool little site.

Other yummy desserts that were being passed around were:
mini ice-cream cones with a fantastic banana & dulce de leche filling and dipped in crisp caramel;
a petite meringue ice cream sandwich;
malted milk shake with teeny choc-covered malted balls within;
a feather-light cornbread cake with raspberry filling and kernels of corn that was truly sensational
also an elegant plastic goblet of a creamy, dreamy and lightly spiced pumpkin squash soup with smoky toasted pepitas on top;
and of course the Berry Tres Leches, which has to be hands down the best version of this classic Mexican dessert I’ve ever tried.

The cake is infused with berries until it is purple-blue and then layered with white cake. The custard parts are not too sickly sweet at all (as is sometimes the case) - it’s simply perfect. Topped with fresh berries and you have a winner. I got to chat with Bret about his Berry Tres Leches dessert, by the way. He explained that it was tough to perfect the genoise or French-style sponge cake part of this delectable dessert so that it doesn’t collapse under the weight of all the three milky ingredients, namely evaporated, condensed and fresh milk.

I also talked to Steve James, the head honcho of the (actually two-person) Got Milk? team and learned how the Got Milk? campaign was created, about fifteen years ago. Legend has it that apparently some creative minds from the advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein and Partners – who they’ve been with ever since – were waiting outside the conference room door, ready to make their pitch. They’d surreptitiously filmed people in their own office reacting, with varying degrees of frustration and anger, to deliberately minuscule amounts of milk left in almost empty containers. They had the campaign and strategy all worked out but no punchy, hooky catch phrase. The team were brainstorming right outside the door, saying, ‘But we need something really simple, like, I dunno, ‘Got Milk?’

Such goes the legend of one of the most enduring food-related ad campaigns you can name.

It was a really fun event.

TIP:

Feast on superb Italian fare at Angelini Osteria across the road, then walk to Milk for dessert.

Milk
7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 939-6455

Normally, a place like Grace would be a very special occasion dining choice for me, so restaurant week seemed like the perfect time to try it. I have walked by Grace often enough gazing longingly at the low light and neutral tones of the interior, and the trio of soups and homemade donuts on the menu. Come to think of it … I could afford to go there just for a trio of soups and some homemade donuts. I’ll have to remember that.

The first thing I have to say is to sneakypeteiii who asked me to inquire about the “Close to Home” menu. I asked my server whether they were still doing it, and he said that they were, but it has been suspended temporarily for restaurant week.

The second is that one thing we did not get even a hint of, was any attitude about being there for restaurant week. The service was as friendly and attentive as if we had been any other diner. Also, we were not made to ask for a separate menu, as the DineLA meal was included within the regular menu. I didn’t feel that we were treated differently than any other customer.

It may be because it’s almost impossible to get away with simply sticking to the $34 set menu, because the people at Grace are wicked, naughty seducers that supplement the menu with bonus choices that are enticingly delicious sounding. I think we went at the height of temptation, also, because one of our table members was accidentally given a menu from the night before and there weren’t nearly as many special supplements.

The first thing that you can’t help but add on is drinks. I suppose you could stick with the water, but that’s boring. We all ordered Grace Gimlets rather than choosing the $30 wine pairing option. The Grace Gimlet was $10 and consisted of gin, blood orange juice, and a rosemary simple syrup. The simple syrup really made this drink. The rosemary scent and flavor was strong and it took the drink from a standard cocktail to something really special. A poster on Chowhound described it as just okay and I am wondering if it is better in the form we ordered it. Our server told us they usually serve it on the rocks, but we all ordered ours up, and they were fantastic.

For starters, three of us ordered the vegan coconut scented winter squash Soup, and the other ordered the shrimp cavatelli with Peas and Chanterelle Mushrooms, both of which were part of the DineLA standard menu choices. The soup was really nice. It was thick, but not too hearty and suited the cold weather that night perfectly. I didn’t really get the “coconut scent,” it must have been very subtle, but I ate all of the soup in about two seconds so maybe I just missed it, I was going so fast! The shrimp cavatelli got good marks as well.

For our main courses, only one of our party ordered off of the DineLA menu, getting the king salmon with quinoa, artichokes, and lobster nage, although without the lobster nage (due to shellfish allergy). The kitchen happily left off the lobster nage and even replaced it with a red wine nage. I tried a bit of the salmon and I have to say it’s the best salmon I ever had. Maybe it was because many salmon I have had are heavily sauced, I am not sure, but this fish tasted so clean and fresh, like it just came out of some really nice seawater. I loved it.

I ordered one of the supplemental dishes that came with a supplemental price. I ordered a Morro Bay Petrale Sole in a lemon butter sauce with endive and potatoes. First, I had to support the fishermen of my homeland. Second, petrale sole is something you don’t see everywhere, but is a very good fish. It is actually a flounder, and it is lean with a mild, sweet flavor. Petrale sole is also classified as an environmentally sound choice of fish, if you care about that kind of thing. My sole came in several pieces, and was crispy, brown, and buttery on the outside, and tender, white, and flaky on the inside. I loved the soft potatoes as well, but the endive was difficult texturally for me. I left most of it on the plate, sadly. The sole was $10 extra.

The third entree was a sauteed John Dory with chervil gnocchi, salsify, wild mushrooms and red wine nage. The fish was good, but I think the best part about this was the gnocchi. The por guy who ordered didn’t get to eat to many of them because they kept getting stolen.

The final entree was another supplemental dish - bay scallops. I’m not much of a scallop fan, but I had a bite and they seemed nice, buttery and evenly cooked.

Dessert was the famous homemade donuts. I am a fan of cake-y donuts. I don’t really like Krispy Creme or donuts with lots of air. I like donuts that are all fried and crunchy on the outside and really soft and fluffy and caky on the inside. As such, these donuts weren’t my optimal, because they were too small to be really soft inside, so they were a little crispier than my ideal. I liked the cinnamon glaze on the top, though. That was yummy. The donuts came with a hot chocolate and “toasted orange marshmallow,” which was more like a gooey whipped cream. The chocolate itself was not very sweet, while the marshmallow part was, so I ended up mixing the two together to make sort of a thick warm pudding, but that was way to rich for me. I couldn’t finish.

All in all, our bill came out to much more than the $34 per person that sticking strictly to the restaurant week menu would have netted us, but at the same time, I would say that on a regular night, a dinner for two with all of the trappings might cost almost as much as our dinner for four last week, so I still feel that it was a bargain.

EDIT: People may like to know, for comparison’s sake. I can’t remember the exact total of our bill, but it was around $250 for four people not including tip. That included two cocktails apiece (we walked! don’t lecture me!), so drinks made up about 1/3 of the bill. So even with the supplements, the food bill came out to an average of around $42.50/person. Not a bad deal for a three course meal.

Grace
7360 Beverly Blvd.
323-934-4400

When it’s pouring rain outside, and you have a gift card in your wallet with $$ still left on it, how can you resist the temptation of a cozy French bistro and onion soup? The other night Comme Ca was calling our names in a sexy French accent and the promise of hot comfort food. I’m going to get the important part of this review out of the way at the beginning. The warnings. If you are not daunted by them, then you can read the rest.

WARNING!

1. We were under the impression that there were a number of tables set aside for walk-ins. At least on the night we went, this was not so. The whole place was practically empty when we arrived, but we were told it was a “full house” and we could only sit at the bar. Luckily for us, the bar is our favorite place to sit! But if you need a chair with a back, and table space, make a reservation. Also, if you want to sit ANYWHERE, get there early. We went just after 6:00 and got the last two bar spots.

2. Do not expect actual French bistro prices. This place is EXPENSIVE (for what you are getting). Cocktails = $14. My butter lettuce salad with vinaigrette, carrots and radish was $9, as was the onion soup, pommes frites are $7, entrees are $25-$28. It helps if you have a gift card! The wine list is good though, in that it provides wines of all prices from the $20 range to the $100 range, so everyone can partake.

Do you still want to check it out? Think your pocketbook can handle it? Think you can get a reservation? Then read on …….

First of all, I highly recommend sitting at the bar. The bartenders, Tim and Joel, are well-dressed, handsome, and practice bartending in the Gary Regan/Audrey Sanders style - they can make you anything and make it well, with the best ingredients. I also recommend the “Dealer’s Choice,” where you tell the guys what you like in the way of booze, and they will come up with a drink to make for you.

I didn’t do it, because I was excited to be able to order an Aviation and know it would be made right, but I still got an education, as I learned that the drink I so enjoy is actually an Aviation NUMBER TWO. He also made me an Aviation #1 which is almost the same, but made with violet liqueur instead of lemon juice. I like the Aviation #2 better, but I will probably never get to have a Number One again, since Comme Ca makes their own violet liqueur, and I’m guessing not many other places have it. (It tastes like flowers, unsurprisingly, in case you were wondering).

My husband did, and with his braised beef entree, Joel recommended a Brooklyn cocktail (whiskey, vermouth, bitters, maraschino). It paired perfectly with the meat and we liked it so much we recreated them the next day. $14 for a cocktail definitely makes my eyes bug out, but since I don’t think I’ve had a comparable bar experience in Los Angeles yet, I guess it’s cheaper than flying to New York or San Francisco to go to a bar.

I immediately observed that in addition to the status of the chef/owner, the prices can be explained by the fact that there are seemingly endless staff working here. There were two bartenders, two oyster plate preparers, a cheese woman, and a whole host of other front of housers whom I often could not tell what their function was. But until the place got packed later in the evening, there were more employees than diners, it seemed. I can’t complain about that.

I kept my meal light, just ordering the aforementioned butter lettuce salad and some pommes frites as I wanted to save room for cheese. The salad and fries were good but not exceptional, but the garlic aioli that came with the fries was downright addictive. My husband ordered the French onion soup and a braised beef entree. The onion soup was worthy of any Parisian bistro and beef was excellent. It was fall-apart tender and rich in a way that makes you happy it’s winter.

For dessert we ordered a cheese plate, chosen by the fromagier. I thought it was a nice touch that she wrangled her way through the crowd that had appeared behind us at the bar to explain the cheeses to us. The only cheese I can remember well was a ripe Epoisses. They were all good cheeses though, and each came with its own accompaniment.

If you have the money to spend, and you don’t mind sitting at the bar, or battling it out for a reservation, then Comme Ca does do a nice job of replicating an upscale version of a French restaurant experience. The staff is attentive and well-trained, and the bar experience is one of the best we’ve had in L.A. for a while.

Comme Ca
8479 Melrose Avenue
323.782.1178

First of all, the restaurant is separated into three parts. In the back, there is a cool and cozy dark room. It seems the majority of customers were seated in the front of the room, which is full of white booths. My group was seated immediately left of the entrance, a little dining area with blue drapes that’s perfect for guests who may want some privacy. We really felt like we had our own personal dining room. This was absolutely perfect because I was able to take a good number of photos since we were so secluded from the other patrons. I typically do enjoy fine dining experiences, but this was the first time I ever felt this relaxed at such a fancy restaurant. The lighting was comfortably dim – not too dark, not too bright. It is dark enough, however, to make reading the menu a bit difficult, so as menus were distributed to us, each of us were also handed a micro flashlight. I have to confess, I was able to read the menu without the flashlight, but it was just so much more fun to use it.

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for… the start of the food details. Shortly after ordering, the amuse bouche arrived. The white test tube was cream of cauliflower topped with a citrus foam. I never would have imagined this combination, but it worked beautifully. It was a lovely balance of slightly salty with slightly sweet and tart. The other test tube had a very rich and flavorful cream of mushroom. In the little dish was eggplant caviar, and I suspect the green in this dish was basil oil. This went very well with the crispy lavash (wafer thin flatbread) and the ciabatta bread that were served. The eggplant was a hit around the table, but it’s not for anyone who can’t handle garlic.

The appetizers came next. I ordered the signature dish – Crispy Langoustines ($24). This dish was 3 large prawns wrapped in phyllo dough, served on top of hummus, pine nuts, and olives. On the side are two shots of minestrone soup, topped with foam and mushroom. Here, again, was a great combination of flavors. Others in my party tried the Ceviche of Baby Scallop with Osetra Caviar ($23) and Heirloom Tomato in Five Ways ($19). I was permitted to sample a bite of the ceviche, and it was delicious. The scallop had a splash of lemon and complemented the sweetness of the red bell pepper. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try any of the heirloom tomato. I assume that since the person who ordered it left barely a trace anything had been on his plate that he enjoyed his appetizer considerably.

While I enjoyed my langoustines very much, there was one more appetizer that was right up there. The Chestnut Crème with Hazelnut Emulsion ($19) was truly wonderful. The soup alone would have been a fantastic starter alone, but there was something more… small and delicate raviolis. The wrapper was very thin but held something special – foie gras. I definitely wished there were more foie gras ravioli, as one was just not enough for me, but it had to do because the person who actually ordered this dish deserved to have the other two.

While all the entrees were excellent, two of us believe that the Pork Confit in Three Ways ($34) was the best (picture above). The pork was crispy outside and moist inside. The perfect bite was a fork of pork topped with a bit of bell pepper, Swiss chard, and a piece of shaved parmesan. The last piece of pork (furthest right) was actually a pork sausage. If only all sausages could be this good. In case you’re wondering, to the left of the sausage was some spaghetti.

The other entrees ordered were Roast Duck Suprème with Cherry Tomato ($36) pictured on the left, Roast Rack of Lamb with Orange Reduction ($38) pictured above, and the John Dory (also $38). I sampled the duck, and although it was quite good, it could not compare to the pork I ordered. The duck was served with fava beans, cherry tomatoes, and risotto. The lamb was cooked very well. I enjoy lamb but am often disappointed with how it retains a gamey taste. This was so not the case last night. This is how lamb should be cooked. (By the way, the person who ordered the lamb voted for this to be the winner of the entrees.) It was served with a vegetable terrine and potatoes. The John Dory was a special not on the menu. Ortolan’s John Dory is a whitefish from New Zealand, served with little white tapioca balls and a tube of pureed truffles. The fish was firm and excellent, but I kind of question the presence of the tapioca. We hypothesize that they were there as decorations to look like pearls, but taste-wise, it didn’t quite fit with everything else on the plate. That minor detail aside, this was an enjoyable dish.

After a lovely palette cleanser, we settled in for dessert. We chose to split a cheese plate, the Pear / Chocolate ($12), and Apple / Quince ($12). First, the cheese plate… We were pretty full already, so we opted for the small plate, which allows us to choose 3 cheeses for $18. (5 slices of cheese cost $23 and 8 slices cost $32.) We picked two sheep cheeses - the Brin D’ Amour “Fleur du Maquis’ (Corsica, France) and Onetik Bleu (Basque, France) - and one cow cheese - Morbier (Morez, France). The Bleu was actually mild for a bleu. I enjoyed this with some of the blueberry currant and a slice of the sweet toast. The Fleur du Maquis was very mild and smooth. It had some rosemary on the side. I was surprised how such a tiny bit of rosemary could be so overwhelming. In my last couple of bites of the cheese, it overpowered the cheese’s flavor, but I still enjoyed this cheese a lot. The Morbier was very lovely, and I had that with some apricot and nuts. As you can see in the photo above, mixed greens and grapes were also provided.

The Pear / Chocolate is a must for any chocolate lover. On the left is dark chocolate sorbet. In the middle is basically a chocolate cannoli. The right one is a bit more complicated to explain. It’s like pear meets chocolate wafer meets brownie meets granola bar. I could taste the pear, but the chocolate was definitely the dominant flavor here. The texture was a great juxtaposition of soft and crunchy. In other words, this dessert is a taste of chocolate heaven.

This was basically an apple tart served with hazelnut ice cream on side. Underneath the hazelnut ice cream was a bit of raspberry. One of the things I liked about the tart was that the apple was firm and not overly sweet. In addition, while it was meant as a decoration piece, the thin apple crisp on top of the tart was fun munch. The tart was a pleasant dessert, but since I had the Pear / Chocolate first, this paled in comparison for me.

As if all this extravagance wasn’t enough to make my visit to Ortolan a memorable meal, there was one more event to report. Chef Émé did personally make the rounds to tables to speak to customers. I was ecstatic when he came to my table and kindly agreed to pose for a photo with me.

Ortolan
8338 W. Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (323) 653-3300
Mon–Thurs 6–10 pm, Fri–Sat 6–10:30 pm

I’ve been pretty excited about Terroni opening, ever since I saw their menu. Authentic Cafe, which used to be in the same location, was a regular dinner/drinks place for me and the void was noticable once it was closed and the new restaurant was under construction.

Now it’s open, and I have wasted no time evaluating it. What do I think? Well, I’ve eaten there three times now, so I’m thinking that it’s a thumbs up so far.

Atmosphere

Of course the first thing I noticed, the first time I walked in was how incredibly hazardous it is in there if there’s ever an earthquake. I have to get this out of the way as a warning to the phobic. Not only is the room lined with shelves of tchotchkes, but there are several shelves with bunches of wine bottles on them above dining tables, and the bar itself is ruled over by a giant chandelier, hovering menacingly over the bar staff’s heads. Yikes!

But the next thing you notice about the decor is how incredibly homey it is. I was worried before it opened that it would be sparse and modern, or nauseatingly trendy, but it’s …. Italian. It’s basically beige with dark wood shelves and accents and lots of Italian food props, and bottles of wine around. On a high wall, Fellini movies and the like are projected.The kitchen is labeled by a shiny red “Cucina” on the wall, in case all the cooks and ovens and stuff back there weren’t enough to clue you in.

They have both a standard menu, and extensive changing daily specials listed on a chalkboard. Better bring your glasses, because unless you are seated nearby, you won’t be able to read the specials and will have to force your server to make his or her way through a long list.

Service

The service still has its ups and downs, but everyone is friendly, so I trust they will work the kinks out as they go along. The no-reservation system works remarkably well, and I was impressed by the way the hostess was able to search out parties from a crowded bar space and whisk them away to their table, never blinking an eye when bar diners stopped to ask for things like utensils, but running their errands with a smile.

I hear tell there is a sommelier and if there is, he needs to step up his game. Most of our service issues were with wine. The second time dining, a wine order was forgotten. The third, they were out of three things I ordered before I finally had to settle for my fourth choice wine; and then at dessert they poured me a grappa instead of the Moscato I ordered. Huge difference. And kind of a shock when you’re expecting one and get the other.
I’ve had two servers and both were great. The first woman tended to disappear when things got busy, but she was very nice and full of information about the menu. The second man was also nice and very gracious about the problems with the wine.

Food

Most importantly, the food! I’ve been pleased with everything I’ve had there. I would say the portion sizes are medium. On my first trip, between two tiny girls who had eaten little during the day to prepare, we put away two appetizers, a pizza, and two desserts. I’ve also been satisfied with a shared appetizer and a salad, however.

Things I have eaten here:

Funghi Assoluti - baked oyster mushrooms with parmigiano, balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and parsley served on arugula. I have eaten this twice and I highly recommend it. The mushrooms are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and have a meaty flavor. They taste almost like fried chicken, but they are mushrooms and they are on a salad, so …. healthy, right?

Calamari alla Griglia: grilled calamari on mixed greens with tomatoes, red onion, and capers. I didn’t like this as much as the funghi assoluti, but I thought it was very good. I’ve never had grilled calamari before, and I liked it a lot, except I thought it made the tentacles too tough.

Insalate Ricchia: arugola, fresh mushrooms, shavings of parmigiano reggiano, lemon, and extra-virgin olive oil. There were two things I loved about this salad: the dressing and the thick shavings of cheese. What I didn’t like were the mushrooms. They were just raw slices of supermarket white mushrooms, which was kind of disappointing. I would have preferred something more flavorful.

Pizze San Giorgio: tomato, mozzarella, spicy calabrese salame, fresh mushrooms. When they say spicy, they are NOT kidding. That salame is hot. But this was a really good pizza. I cut the spiciness of the salame with lots of parmesan and I could handle it. The pizzas are a great size for sharing, but one person could probably manage it all if you didn’t eat too much else. I am not too thrilled with the authentic “cut it yourself” policy. I suggest giving the table a pizza cutter if they are going to keep it up, because the small serrated knife we were given made for a hazardous cutting experience where my pizza threatened to fly right off the plate several times.

I have also had some specials that weren’t on the regular menu:

Polpo con Olive: This was a sauteed octopus dish with olives and potatoes and some greens. It is not the best octopus I have ever had in my life, and the pieces weren’t cooked evenly, so some were great and others a little tough. But overall, I liked this dish.

Prosciutto Pizza: I don’t remember the official name, but this was a pizza with prosciutto, basil, and taleggio. It was good, but I think after havig the super spicy pizza the first time, it was kind of bland in comparison.

And of course desserts:

I have tried the Lemon Sorbetto, and the Creme Caramel with milk. The lemon sorbetto came inside an actual lemon peel, Euro-style and was every bit as tart and light as you would want after a carb-heavy meal. The Creme Caramel was delicious. I usually don’t go for dishes of this texture, but the flavor was good and it melted in your mouth so that the texture wasn’t a problem for me.

Overall, I would say it’s a keeper, especially if they get service running smoothly. It’s low-key and casual, although like many of the newer restaurants, if you want somewhere quiet, do not go here. It’s incredibly loud when it’s full. I will admit that it’s the poor man’s Pizzeria Mozza, but we can’t all go to Mozza all the time, so it’s nice to have a fallback option.

Terroni
7605 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 954-0300

I tried Pastagina at the Beverly Center Food Court.

The idea is to give something above fast-food pasta without the sit-down restaurant time and cost. I placed my order and the chef whom you can watch through the glass window, puts the pre-made sauce in the pan and brings it up to a bubbly hot and tasty. Behind him is some hot water pots for the pastas. I’m guessing the pasta is partly cooked so it doesn’t take too long to heat up.

Will this idea work? Would you invest in such a restaurant?

While I was in the trying out new restaurant mode, I tried Holy Cow Indian Express.

The funny name caught my eye. The menu items fusing Indian with other cuisines I thought was creative. I noticed on the menu that they claim to NOT use Ghee and instead say everything is cooked in vegetable oil. They appear to want to catch some of that fast-food vegan demographic in Southern California who want something in accord with their food ethics but yet with a little ethnic flair.

Will this idea work? Would you encourage or discourage a friend from trying to run a restaurant concept like that?

My reactions:

Pastagina is, I think, paddling upstream. As a storefront fast food place in a food court, people are looking for something they can take away pretty quickly and it is a bit too slow for that. The pasta is perhaps a notch better than something that has been sitting under the heat lamps but it is still something less than a sit-down quality pasta lunch.

Holy Cow Indian Express probably works well for the fast food vegans. But as someone who ordered a dish with meat in it, was it my imagination or did the food seem not as tasty as something you would get at an Indian place that does uses ghee?

Pastagina
Beverly Center
8500 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Holy Cow Indian Express
8474 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 852-8900

So my husband and I had absolutely no plans today. He spent the day at the computer, I spent the day cleaning house and exercising. Suddenly, the evening was almost upon us and we had absolutely nothing going on. He turned to me and said “Hey, what would you think about going and trying to sit at the bar at Mozza? If it’s too long a wait, we could go somewhere else.”

I thought about for oh, about one second and decided definitely yes. After all, we had no plans, so even if we had to wait around it’s not like we had anything else to do. If we were at home, we would probably be watching TV. So at around 6:00 this Saturday night, we headed over to Osteria Mozza, the younger and more glamorous sister of Pizzeria Mozza.

To our surprise, we didn’t have to wait at all. There were two spots waiting for us at the bar, and okay, so it wasn’t the “Nancy” bar, but it was close enough that we could SEE her, and in exchange we got two fabulous bartenders and the fanciest barback in town ensuring that our dining experience was a pleasurable one.

The menu consists of antipasti, including selections from the Mozzarella Bar, a Nancy Silverton creation that got its start at Jar and has migrated over to Mozza; pasta; secondi (entrees); and contorni, which are like side dishes.

Both the antipasti and pasta portion sizes are small enough that you could order one of each and still have room for an entree. We started with Negronis, because - well, we like to drink. Good thing too, because it came with an entertaining orange twist flambe show. Whee!

We started with grilled octopus (with potatoes, celery, and lemon) and a burricotti with radicchio, spiced walnuts & honey. The octopus was amazing - somewhat like a good calamari, but so savory that it was almost like beef. And the cheese appetizer was a delicious blend of flavors and textures - creamy cheese, vinegary soft radicchio, spicy-hot and crunchy nuts, sweet herb-tinged honey, and crispy toast. Mmm.

After that we split the fresh ricotta and egg raviolo with browned butter. It was basically a giant ravioli island in a brown butter lake, with a flash-fried sage leaf resting atop. Inside are pillowy puffs of ricotta and golden gush of egg yolk that comes bursting out when you stick your fork in. It was gone in about three seconds.

It was around this time that I turned around and realized that the place was full. The noise level had risen considerably, the tables were filled and there were small groups of people hanging over the standing tables behind us, nursing glasses of wine and anxiously scanning the bars for empty seats.

For entrees we ordered grilled whole orata (a fish) wrapped in fig leaf with olio nuovo and Santa Barbara spot prawns “al diavolo.” One touch I loved is that the server came out and showed J. his fish, explaining that he had to go finish it at the serving table and then it would meet up with my prawns and come to us. The serving table appeared to be a table set up near the entrance with wines, liquors, oils, salts and other finishing touches or non-bartender required drinks.

The fish was no joke. First of all, it was really good. Crispy and charred on the outside, white, tender and fluffy on the inside. Second of all, it had teeth. Sharp teeth! I respect the fisherman who gave us that fish, even though he probably never came near the fish. It still looked pretty fierce, even all grilled on the plate and beheaded.

The prawns were big, buttery and swimming through a spicy, wine-y tomato broth cushioned on some of the biggest white beans I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know what they were, but I was impressed. I imagine it’s hard to cook those beans to the proper texture, since they’re so big. It reminded me of a Mickey Mouse cartoon I saw when I was little, where they are so poor that they slice up one bean for dinner. These beans could actually provide a little sustenance, even sliced up.

I also snuck a peek at my next door neighbor’s beef brasato and had to hold back the drool as I watched him scoop it up with a fork. Even from afar I could see how falling apart tender it was. If you’re a red meat lover, that looked like an excellent bet.

Even after all this, we still had room for dessert. J. went right for the bombolini, which were little round donuts while I stuck with a dainty plum and strawberry sorbetto from Gail Silverton. I’ve never had a plum sorbet before and it fully lived up to my expectations. It tasted just like a cold sweet plum.

About two hours later, we were finally done with our meal and extraordinarily, I didn’t feel heavy and full. The portions and pacing were done well, so I didn’t feel gorged at the end, but never felt like I was waiting too long. And even though we were at the bar and not at a table, I felt well served. The barmen were attentive and helpful and even the barback was always on the ball and offered up some nice touches. He never failed to ply us with Nancy’s bread, in white, wheat and whole grain and he slipped me a warm cloth with lemon and rosemary at the end that had me trying hard not to smell my hands for the rest of the night.

I’m happy we decided to go, because it was a lot easier than I expected. We didn’t have to wait forever and the atmosphere was casual and convivial while still retaining attentive service and excellent food.

Having a hard time getting a reservation? Go down early and hit up the bar. It’s fun and relatively painless. Worried about finances? We spent quite a bit (we had a gift card) but If you’re frugal with drinks, and order a few antipasti/pasta dishes and skip out on the entrees and desserts, you could get away without spending too awfully much.