Tamale Festival - Meet Me There?

Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Posted By Jonah in category East LA, Event

The 3rd Annual Los Angeles Tamale Festival is being held at MacArthur Park from November 9-11th. I will be there on Saturday, November 10th does anyone want to meet up? If you do, leave a comment in this post with your email address in the email address field (will not be displayed, will not be shared). You can also email me directly at foodblogging [at] gmail .com. I will send an eVite with the time and meeting place.

It seems like I have always been out of town for the festival, so I am looking forward to this one.

Here is Rene’s write up of last year’s festival.

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

Random Digesty

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Posted By Jonah in category Digesty

A fun part of my Digesty site is that it reaches back into its archives and gives you a random list of local food posts.

It’s easy enough to share, when I visited this morning, here are some of the posts Digesty gave back:

For those of you who can’t get enough local food content reload this page for a never ending supply.

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

Cafe Surfas

Monday, October 29, 2007
Posted By Jonah in category Lunch, Westside

cafesurfas_1.gifWe headed over to Surfas to pick up a couple of clothing items for our Halloween costumes. Ours was a busy day with a few other stops, but we timed it so that we could have lunch at the Surfas Cafe.

I had heard mixed reviews, which is the best way to get me to try a place. If I get a bad review, I usually skip it, if I get a great review, my expectations are usually too high. To cut to the chase, my review was that the food was great!

My wife ordered a Buffalo Burger and I went for the Haute Dog. The menu is limited mainly to salads and sandwiches. All of the options looked appetizing and even without a ton of choices, it wasn’t easy to narrow things down. I angled for the sandwiches but that Haute Dog caught my eye.

The Buffalo Burger ($8.95) was juicy and flavorful. It came on their panini bread, topped with onion, arugula, tomato, Fiscalini white cheddar and
Sweet Harissa Mayo. As far as I can remember, it was my first taste of ground buffalo. I agree with my wife who described it as “a more flavorful turkey burger”. The meat was leaner than a beef patty, but much juicier than a turkey patty. Over all the buffalo burger was a winner, well cooked, well topped and with great bread.

My Haute Dog ($7.95) was a smoked venison sausage, split in half lengthwise and sandwiched between two pieces of a French baguette. The dog is topped with horseradish mustard, blue cheese cream, and cioppolini onions. I liked the idea of the blue cheese cream, but the horseradish mustard way overpowered it. The flavors came together though, and the nicely toasted baguette was a perfect wrapper. Like the buffalo burger, I hadn’t had venison sausage before. 2 for 2 on new meats.

There were two soups on the menus that day, potato leek and lima bean. I ordered a cup of the potato leek to share. The soup was good, but was the very thin and brothy, I like my potato leek soups a little thicker. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t any cream either, the broth was the color of the stock (chicken, I assume). The soup wasn’t bad, but wasn’t remarkable either.

We did love the burger and dog. Two unique takes on American classics. I would have pictures, but there were no fewer than three 8×11 signs saying “no photography”. I’m always curious what spawns those types of signs. Is it blogger/yelp/chowhound backlash? Fear of copycats? Seems a little silly to me.

It does take a little while for the food to be prepared, but there is a nice patio to sit on. There isn’t much indoor seating, other than a small bar area.

Service was friendly and courteous. A lot of customers from the main store were in and out of the cafe. Most for some great looking coffee drinks. Others ordered meals and the servers at the cafe announce when the orders are ready over the PA system so customers could hear no matter where they were.

Cafe Surfas
8777 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-558-1458
Breakfast Served 8:30AM- 3PM Monday - Saturday, 10AM Sundays
Lunch Served From 11AM- 3PM

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

Little Next Door

Monday, October 22, 2007

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My mom was in town this past weekend and I took her to Little Next Door, the spawn of its popular parent restaurant, The Little Door. I went when they first opened and was very disappointed with both food and service but the ambiance is great! I am obsessed with the imperial violet blue and royal gold color scheme. I really wanted to like this place so I figured one more trip couldn’t hurt.

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 They now offer table service, whereas last time you ordered at the counter before sitting down. We ordered 2 cafe au lait from a friendly Frenchman. They arrived piping hot, rich, and smooth in large bone colored bowls which felt comfortable and satisfying. I could tell there was a good barista in the house due to the perfect microfoam on top.

We didn’t order wine, but this little cafe is heaven for those who love a good wine by the glass selection. 5 whites and 6 reds are offered all between $5.00 -$10.00 per glass. Tres Bien!!

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While we waited for our food to arrive, which did take awhile, the warm, nutty smell of browned butter wafted throughout the space. If that doesn’t make you hungry nothing will.

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At the waiter’s suggestion, I ordered the grilled salmon sandwich on brioche bread. It was layered with a variety of spicy mixed greens and thin slices of salmon. One word … DRY. The bread was delicious but the sandwich itself lacked flavor and inspiration.

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My mom ordered the Pesto Chicken Sandwich with grilled zucchini and summer squash. This sandwich had more flavor thanks to the pesto and was not as dry due to the grilled veggies, but the chicken could have used some time in a marinade. The baguette it was served on was good, but far too much bread for the petite amount of chicken and vegetables inside.

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We also ordered one Harissa Egg to share. Harissa is a hot red pepper paste used in North African cooking. It tasted like a deviled egg with a zesty bite. Yum!

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One of my favorite pastry chefs in LA, Michael Brock, recently moved from Boule to Little Next Door. I’d told him how disenchanted I was with their pastry on my first visit but I trusted things had gotten better with him at the helm and I was right! I asked him to bring us his favorite sugary offerings … we’ll start with my favorite. A vanilla panna cotta layered with grapefruit gelee and topped with grapefruit supremes.

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“OH MY GOD! This is the best dessert I’ve ever put in my mouth.” Those were my exact words. The tangy tartness of the cool grapefruit gelee combined with the rich, soft, sweetness of the velvet-like panna cotta. We ate the entire cup. We couldn’t stop. There were four other treats to try but this one lured us in, mouthful by heavenly mouthful.

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In second place were the caramel sea salt truffles. Delectable dark chocolate filled with savory sweet caramel; Excellent. At this point we could not manage one more bite. Our waiter was very understanding and brought us to-go boxes for the remaining 3 pastries. These were devoured the following morning at home with coffee.

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The vanilla beignet was light, fluffy and the creamy custard inside made me melt. My mom liked the pain au raisin and said it was buttery but not overly sweet.

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Last, the apple tart. This had wonderful flavor. Cinnamon, brown sugar, butter and apples mingled in my mouth.  

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The crust was a little difficult to cut through due to sugar that had caramelize on the bottom of the tart but we warmed it up and overall, thoroughly enjoyed each bite. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Go for the fine European atmosphere, go for the great coffee and delectable desserts.

Little Next Door 
8142 W 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA

90048 9am-6pm Daily
Phone: (323) 951-1010  http://www.thelittledoor.com/lndhome.html

By foodflirt90210 (see more of her posts). You can find more of foodflirt90210's writing at her own website foodflirt90210

Best Behavior at Sushi Nozawa

Monday, October 22, 2007
Posted By Pauline in category Dinner, Japanese, Lunch, Studio City

One of my dearest friends, DK, knows about my foodblogging. He has never had a problem with me taking photos of food when we go out. He has never once complained about how I blabber on endlessly about ingredients with servers. He is even sometimes amused by how I order food at restaurants. So imagine my surprise when he repeatedly refuses to take me to his favorite sushi joint. Finally, as a birthday present, he says he will take me there, to Sushi Nozawa. For the entire month leading up to the meal, he tells me how I’m not allowed to take my camera. I’m not allowed to order anything. He says the Sushi Nazi (think Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi) takes sushi very seriously, and I must be on my best behavior. Chef Nozawa apparently hates food critics and bloggers equally. DK continues to tell me that the guy had no problems throwing Charlize Theron out of the restaurant, so little insignificant me will be even easier to toss out if I misbehave.

When we finally go, I was surprised that we ended up in a dinky little strip mall with limited parking. Walking into Sushi Nozawa, I felt like I walked into an 80’s style joint. We took the two seats at the sushi bar and right after we ordered sake, we were handed a bowl of tuna with ponzu. I looked up, and there were all these signs saying “Trust Me” and “Don’t Think, Just Eat.” That basically sums up my experience there. We were handed one thing after another, after another.

DK mentioned to me that Chef Nozawa and his assistant must have been in a good mood because they were actually telling us what they were giving us. I have to say, everything was good. The yellowtail, albacore, and toro were very fresh. This is also one of the very rare times I’ve been to sushi where I used the wasabi sans a drop soy sauce. I really just wanted to savor the flavor and didn’t need soy sauce. I also enjoyed the crab hand roll and uni. I was definitely happy. I mentioned to DK that I would love to finish off with some unagi and asked if we could order it. It seemed we could not. DK would not let me. I guess only people who sit at tables can order sushi, but if you sit at the bar, you get what they give you. When the sushi assistant asked if we wanted oyster, I declined. DK immediately said in a loud voice, “She’s full. That’s all. She’s finished, but I’ll take it.” Then he whispers to me, “Don’t piss off the Sushi Nazi! You were supposed to take it!” After his oyster, DK was offered a lobster hand roll. He allowed me to sneak a bite of it when no one was looking. This was - to him - a risky move, as I’m supposed to be full and not eating anything. One must not offend the chef.

I have to say, this was one of the tensest dining experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve had to watch what I say and how I act at restaurants before, but never quite like this. Nevertheless, there were at times a home-style charm kind of feel to the place. Mrs. Nozawa was also present, and watching how much effort and dedication she and Chef Nozawa were putting into the food and restaurant really made me feel like I was being respected as an honored guest. Regardless of all the nagging by DK I endured, I think it was worth it to just try Nozawa. The sushi really was quite delicious, possibly the best I’ve had in years. It really is just fine to trust the chef here.

Miscellaneous:

1) Sorry about not including prices for this entry. This was my birthday meal, so I didn’t see the final tab. I’ve heard, however, that the bill can run up to $100.

2) Since parking is tight, you might be better off parking on the side street.

Sushi Nozawa
11288 Ventura Blvd Ste C
Studio City, CA 91604-3149
Phone: (818) 508-7017
Hours: Mon-Fri 12pm-2pm, 5:30pm-10pm

By Pauline (see more of her posts).

PR Push

Thursday, October 18, 2007
Posted By Jonah in category LA.foodblogging

Maybe it’s the new fiscal quarter. Maybe my email address has been sold to a new list of PR companies. Maybe there are really some not-to-be-missed openings and events coming up. Whatever it is, I have been hit with a cavalcade of emails from PR companies lately. Just the other day, I received no fewer than eight emails in less than an hour. Of course, most of them are borderline spam, sent out to all of the email addresses in a PR person’s contact list. Unlike spam, I am usually not given an easy opt-out link at the end of the message. Mass emails are easily identifiable, not only because of their impersonal nature, but also because I frequently receive an email sent to the la.foodblogging address, and then shortly receive a duplicate email sent to the address on one of my other food sites (Digesty or Cheww).

The tone of PR emails are consistent, always pretending that they are letting me in on some big secret that “my readers would be interested in”. A more genuine approach may be to phrase the message “my client has paid me to get this story placed as many times as possible, can you do that for me?”. Perhaps they should also add “I don’t read your site, have never commented or sent you an email outside of veiled pleading to publicize events or products.”

One thing I have learned about PR, and this is something that a PR person told me directly, is that the nature of PR is to not pay for any placement. That’s advertising, a different industry entirely. PR’s job is to make things look organic, when nothing could be further from the truth. I often see the same Press Releases that I receive end up verbatim in a blog post. I see the restaurants that are hyped in my inbox magically appear in major local publications. I do believe that it is an effective way to get the word out. I assume that most readers think that they are getting something genuine, delivered to them by the author because the author finds it interesting or useful for their audience. In truth, I think that authors who use Press Releases are simply lazy. There certainly isn’t shame in that. We are all lazy to some extent.

What I find most offensive is when PR folks explain to me that I should be flattered to be included in these releases. Somehow I should feel good that this site is considered as being “worthy” of being included as a member of The Press. I hate to use the tired expression that they “Just Don’t Get It”, but that’s just what it is. Our goal here isn’t to litter the site with un-paid advertisements disguised as content or personal recommendations. Sure, I may suggest a restaurant which has been pitched to me, but only if I have been there prior to receiving a press release. As it says in our About Page (which apparently is seldom consulted), the best way to make sure that your event, venue, product, etc. is not mentioned, is to send me a press release about it.

Last week, I was even asked about the traffic that la.foodblogging receives, because someone’s “client had requested it”. While I appreciate the honesty, that someone is selling the amount of traffic our site gets, that’s not something I generally give out. It is not the first time that our traffic numbers have been requested, and I assume that it wont be the last. Why wont it be the last? Because I do not believe that most PR people who email me actively read the site. They wont see posts like this one.

Now, everyone needs to make a living, and PR is a real industry. I don’t think that people who work in that industry are bad people, but by nature they need to be sneaky. They need to schmooze their way into publications, gaining the trust and the ear (and the pen) of various journalists and authors. No one likes to feel like they are being used or manipulated, so the PR folks flatter us with friendly speak, making us feel like we are getting privileged information.

So what is the answer to PR? Well, mine is mostly to ignore it. I generally read the emails, I may respond if I find something interesting. I did post some stats from the Zagat survey, so I suppose that one worked.

If I ever needed to get the word out on a commercial venture, I would probably give a PR firm a try. Although after reading this, they might tell me to pound sand. Somehow, I think that writing check would quickly change their mind though.

I know that bloggers are seeing an increase of PR coming their way. How do you deal with it? How do you think bloggers should deal with it?

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

Mom’s Guest Post - The Fabiolus Café

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Posted By Jonah in category Dinner, Hollywood, Italian

entrance_sunset.jpgMy mom and sister were coming up to see Wicked at the Pantages last weekend. They asked for a dinner recommendation. I suggested Fabiolus. I had been there for a friend’s birthday dinner a while back. I enjoyed it and knew that they cater to the theater crowd.

My mom wrote her own review of their dinner, so here it is, mom’s guest post:

Thanks for the recommendation to Fabiolus. It was terrific. The ambiance was cozy, bistro with just the right amount of buzz. No loud music or talking altho’ it was pretty packed. When we arrived, a bit late for our reservation, they graciously seated us and propped a place card on our table with all of our reservation info. Service was attentive, efficient and friendly. The chewy, airy Italian bread was accompanied by the most amazing basil/pesto/dipping sauce. I ultimately used some to enhance my already delicious and tender double chicken breast. The food came out quickly but there was no sense of having to rush. It is evident that the staff is in tune with the theater crowd which is reassuring. Erin [my sister] had a melange of seafood, the base of which was a generous portion of Dover sole in a white wine sauce. Just her kind of thing and I scored the succulent mussels that were part of the seafood mix. We passed on dessert thinking we didn’t want to be too full for our sit at the Pantages. The tray was very tempting with a large tiramisu, a pear and almond tart, a cheesecake, an apple tart and at least one other cake that I have forgotten. We now know that it is very easy to get in and out with a full meal eaten at a leisurely pace in an hour or less depending on the number of courses.

The restaurant was easy to find and just a few blocks from the freeway offramp. The theater is 2 easy blocks away. The parking behind the restaurant allows one to park for both dinner and show; also a convenient perk.

Thanks mom!

The Fabiolus Café
6270 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 467-2882

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

GREAT TASTES IN BRENTWOOD

Monday, October 8, 2007

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I I spent this past Sunday exploring the culinary offerings at the Great Tastes in Brentwood festival. About 20 restaurants in and around Brentwood set up booths that boast some of their signature fare. It’s only $2.00 to enter the event and then you purchase “scrip” to taste the food … 1 scrip is $2.00 and items range from 1-3 scrip … not bad.

cafedelrey.gifI began my little adventure at Cafe del Ray where Jason Niederkorn is the executive chef. On the menu: Rabbit Rillette on crostini with persimmon marmalade, green apple celery root soup, and chocolate truffle cookies.

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I opted for the Rabbit Rillette and it was delicious. The golden crostini; perfectly crisp without being dry thanks to just the right amount of olive oil I. The tart, sweet persimmon marmalade mingled well with the soft, savory rabbit rillette and made a gorgeous pair. Together with crunchy crostini this appetizer had both fabulous taste and texture. I was so satisfied with the rabbit I wanted to try their soup and truffle cookies, but I had to give some other restaurants a try :)
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Next stop, Pecorino where chef Raffaele Sabatini presides. I chose a dish that reminded me of a cross between an au gratin and a Paella. The regional dish from Puglia in south eastern Italy was a flavorful medley of riso, thinly sliced potatoes that melted in my mouth, mussels, zucchini, summer squash, and tomatoes. Besides being a touch heavy on oil, it was wonderful Italian comfort food.
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The chef was kind enough to give me a sample of roasted pork leg as well. It was wonderfully simple, tender and the marbling gave it a rich, satisfying flavor. All three gentlemen from Pecorino including Mario, who is one of the owners, were clearly passionate about their food and I can not wait to try the restaurant!
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Somehow I managed to have enough self control to save room for dessert … difficult when all the food thus far had been scrumptious and served as much more than just a taste. I headed over to Punch Grill where I’d seen the spiced panna cotta dessert. I’d actually never had panna cotta before, so this was the perfect time to try something new. Three words: Creamy, velvety, bliss. Why I’ve never ordered panna cotta before, I have no idea but if this is what I’ve been missing I’m looking forward to making up for lost time. Each lush, subtly sweet bite enrobed my entire mouth with pleasure. The flavor of any spices was a bit lost but the berries on top cut the richness of the dessert very well.
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I REALLY wanted to eat the entire petite pot of heaven but with 4 tickets left I was eyeing a red velvet cupcake across the way so … regretfully, I left half of the panna cotta uneaten and strolled over to continue my sugar rush at SusieCakes.
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This was unquestionably the best red velvet cupcake I’ve had in LA; FAR superior to well, all the other cupcake stores. (Why name names, you know who I’m talking about.) I took one, two, three licks of the fluffy white frosting spilling over the edges of the little ruby red cake. Um … AMAZING! Tart n’ tangy, sweet n’ creamy, everything that great cream cheese frosting should be. The cake itself was not only super tender and buttery but also filled with even more of that addicting frosting. I really really wanted to eat the whole thing … so I did :)

Café del Rey
4451 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
310.823.6395

Pecorino
11604 San Vicente Blvd (Brentwood) CA 90049
310 571-3800

Punch Grill
3001 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-828-8812

SusieCakes
11708 San Vicente
Brentwood CA 90049
310-442-CAKE (2253)

By foodflirt90210 (see more of her posts). You can find more of foodflirt90210's writing at her own website foodflirt90210

RMUX