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A Cafe for Music Lovers

Could that be Gustavo Dudamel, L.A. Phil’s new  leading man, shaking his dark curls as he makes a point over coffee with a friend? Probably not, just a look alike, but that young guy lugging a cello may be a future star. Same for that girl with the violin case.

The scene is the Colburn School Plaza Café, located behind the prestigious Colburn music school in downtown Los Angeles.

It’s entirely possible that Dudamel might show up there one day, taking a break from Disney Hall across the street.

And why not? It’s a pleasant place to sit, a beautiful, glassed-in space that soars like the music so close by. 

The coffee (Peet’s) is good. The service is cordial. And the food fits a music student’s budget. The wide ranging menu changes every week. There is lots of Italian food, panini, pesto and so forth, as well as ethnic dishes such as Thai chicken salad and Baja fish tacos.

The day I went in, the special was chicken curry Madras. To be sure, the curry wasn’t anything you’d find in Chennai (Madras). That doesn’t mean it wasn’t pleasant.  Sides included lentils--not Indian dal, but regular, plainly seasoned supermarket lentils. And cauliflower, more gently flavored than Indians like it, but all the better to soothe a budding soprano’s throat.

Another day, Italian wedding soup was loaded with marble-sized meatballs, tomatoes, spinach, red bell pepper and other vegetables, basil and couscous in garlic-scented chicken broth. All this for only $2.69 for a small bowl, $3.69 for a larger serving.  And croutons and crackers for the taking.

Just around the corner from MOCA, the cafeteria-style café is slightly hidden but worth seeking out. It's a nice place to relax, even if you'rd rather play one of the games the cafe provides than a piano or flute.

Colburn School Plaza Café, 200 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Tel: (213) 621-4515. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Green Curry from India

Thailand has green curry so popular that it’s on the menu at just about every Thai restaurant.

Not so well known is green curry from India, a fresh and interesting change from the usual heavily spiced,  tomato-red restaurant curries.

The place to find it is Flavor of India in West Hollywood and Burbank, where each day there’s a different chicken curry.

Lots of cilantro makes this one green. If you don’t like cilantro, don’t worry. The flavor softens as it blends with large amounts of garlic and ginger, onions, jalapeno chiles and--another unusual aspect of this curry--coconut milk.

Owner/chef Darshan Singh gave me the recipe when I dropped by for lunch recently. It’s not difficult, because it calls for few ingredients compared to the multitude of spices that go into some Indian dishes.

Long slow cooking in various stages is responsible for the smooth, mellow flavor. So be patient, and the results will be wonderful.

GREEN COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY
From Flavor of India

3 pounds medium-sized chicken thighs
2 cups cilantro leaves (1 bunch)
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
¼ cup peeled ginger root, cut into chunks
¼ cup garlic cloves (about 8)
Water
1½ teaspoons Indian brown mustard seeds
¾ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ to 1½ teaspoons red chili powder, according to taste
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 cup coconut milk

Remove the skin and excess fat from the chicken thighs and set aside.

Combine the cilantro leaves, jalapenos, ginger, garlic and 1/3 cup water in a small food processor and process until pureed. Scoop this paste into a bowl and set aside.

Using a spice grinder, grind the mustard seeds to a powder and set aside. Combine the coriander, chili powder, turmeric and salt in a small cup.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other large heavy pan. Add the cumin seeds and ground mustard seeds and cook until they crackle. Add the onions and cook until golden brown, stirring often to keep them from burning.

Add the cilantro paste and sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the ground coriander mixture, then the coconut milk and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken and ½ cup water. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 45 minutes.  Serve with rice.

Makes 4 servings.

French Food in Palm Springs

Le Vallauris is dazzling, not just the food but the illuminated  tumbleweeds set high in ficus trees around the patio.

On a cold night, I thought the patio would be deserted in favor of warmer quarters indoors. But a friend insisted we eat there.  Thanks to heaters, we were as comfortable as if bathed in glowing sun. And the glittering tumbleweeds turned the patio into a magical garden. 

Le Vallauris has long been Palm Springs’ most elegant restaurant. Years ago, when a friend was dining there,  Frank Sinatra walked in. The designer James Galanos was having dinner the night I was there.

The desert is overpopulated with formula restaurants, steak houses and fast food chains. Le Vallauris offers an escape from that sort of food. Situated in a historic house, it’s the sort of place where you would order foie gras or escargots, sweetbreads or sole meuniere, drink a fine French wine and finish with a soufflé or mousse.

This is not to say it is old fashioned. Chef Jean Paul Lair adds regional touches, such as slivered dates in the sweet sauce for sautéed Perigord duck foie gras. And he offers such contemporary fare as seared ahi tuna with wasabi beurre blanc and roasted Peking duck with a tangerine and orange reduction.

I was especially pleased with pommes soufflés—light as air inflated potatoes that accompanied my lemon-infused sweetbreads and remained crisp even as they cooled.

The sweetbreads are a signature dish, crisp at the edges and, on this night, accompanied by asparagus as well as the potatoes.

Thanks to my companions, I sampled enough food to know that ordering here is not a long shot. We tasted a delicious creamy white asparagus and wild mushroom soup; Burgundy style escargots with Pernod, garlic, lemon and butter; a Roquefort-stuffed pear;  silky hickory smoked salmon, and, among the entrees, grilled venison,  grilled Chinook king salmon, whitefish with a Dijon mousseline, the sweetbreads and Peking duck.

Then we passed around crème brulee, mousses and other desserts. I liked the vanilla ice cream in a crisp cookie basket that accompanied my tarte tatin almost as much as the thick layer of caramelized apples on the crust. 

Owner Paul Bruggemans helped with choosing wines, among them a Chateau Mouton Cadet 2002 and a Benziger Syrah from the same year.

Chef Lair was away on a catering job that night, but the restaurant is so well managed that we wouldn’t have known the difference.

Le Vallauris restaurant, 385 W. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Tel: (760) 325-5059. 

Abloom with Good Mexican Food

I eat Mexican food only at places that are genuinely Mexican, not “tourist” spots that figure customers are happy if they get big margaritas, plenty of chips and a bowl of tired salsa.

Now there’s an exception. It’s Bloom Café on Pico Boulevard. This informal neighborhood eatery has an eclectic menu that ranges from Mexican through Asian to pizza, along with sandwiches, salads and pasta.

I’ve done the Asian (a whole wheat organic soba noodle salad), the pasta (summer artichoke ravioli) and the pizzas (spicy chicken; Provencal; three onions and goat cheese) It was all good, but with my taste for Mexican food, Bloom’s huevos rancheros stand out.

Light and fresh (meaning not greasy) these eggs aren’t a bit like huevos rancheros in Mexico. The usual refried beans are missing. So is spicy salsa.

Bloom layers the fried eggs between two crisp corn tortillas. Small white beans in a mild but tasty chili sauce spill over the tortillas, and Cheddar cheese oozes onto the plate in golden rivulets. A thick cluster of avocado slices and a big blob of sour cream sit on top.  Salsa, composed of chopped fresh tomatoes, onion and cilantro (no chiles)  is in a separate dish.

Bloom’s fish tacos are also good. And I once had an artichoke heart salad topped with slabs of queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese). A warm goat cheese and sweet corn tamale salad sounds interesting, but I’ll have to go back for that.

Bloom is as fresh and pleasant as the food. Flower pots on a counter, big bright flowers painted on the walls, airy space inside and plenty of seating outside make it a happy place to be. 

Bloom Café, 5544 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019. Tel: (323) 934-6900. Open Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Mexico's Snow Cone: The Raspado

A heat wave is not a bad thing, if you can get to Zacatecas Raspados.

Dig into one of this store’s Mexican style snow cones and soon your teeth will ache and your mouth go numb with frozen bliss.

Rather than artificial syrups, the raspado toppings are made from fresh fruits such as peaches, strawberries, pineapple, mango and guava. Still more flavors are coconut, nut, vanilla and lime.

Typical Mexican toppings include tamarind, jamaica (based on a tart, sweet red drink), rompope (similar to eggnog) and cajeta (sweet, caramelized milk). Recently a sign went up advertising a new flavor, coffee.

The tiny shop is as Mexican as can be. Reproductions of Diego Rivera calla lily paintings hang on the walls. Red, white and green tiles pay homage to the Mexican flag, and jars of  brightly colored toppings stand on the counter, like the colorful drinks displayed in Mexican markets and restaurants.

The only place to sit inside is a small bench. When business gets brisk, the shop sets tables and chairs on the sidewalk. Then you’re in the swing of eastside life, as moms and kids, an aged ice cream vendor, auto workers and others pass by.

Zacatecas Raspados also sells juices, licuados (blender drinks) and fruit salads, but the raspados have made it famous. So much so that in hot weather, you may have a long wait before you get sweet, frosty relief.

Raspados are $3 at Zacatecas Raspados, 422 N. Ford Blvd. (just east of the 710 freeway and north of Cesar E. Chavez Ave.),  Los Angeles, CA 90022. Tel: (323) 264-7651

L.A.'s Coolest Ice Cream

Scoops is the coolest place in town. This ice cream shop at the edge of Los Angeles City College is wildly original and totally natural.  Its sorbets, gelatos and ice creams (some of them vegan) are made there, without any assist from commercial ice cream bases and flavorings. 

Scoops’ flavors are extraordinary. They’re not your everyday strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, but kiwi and Spanish vinegar, tamarind spiked with wasabi, black sesame combined with ginger, kumquat and basil, coconut speckled with tiny black basil seeds, green tea with banana, smoky tasting bacon caramel and many more.

Yes, there is strawberry, but it is likely to be strawberry with balsamic vinegar or mascarpone, never the ordinary ice cream shop stuff. Don’t worry. There are plenty of choices not overly exotic, such as grape and peach sorbet, chocolate-orange, mocha with Oreos, almond tiramisu and blood orange blended with pineapple.

Owner Kim Tai is an artist who went to culinary school to study ice cream. He loves a challenge, so he’ll make almost anything at a customer’s request, even kimchi ice cream, or fresh durian made with fruit that a customer brought from San Francisco, or creamy, delicate jackfruit ice cream, made with fresh jackfruit supplied by a Thai customer.

What you see one day, you may never see again, except for a few favorites, such as brown bread, and that’s a good reason to go to Scoops often. 

Scoops, 712 N. Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90029. Tel: (323) 906-2649. Open Monday through Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.  Prices start at $2 for a cup that includes two flavors.

Congratulations, Jonathan

At last, ethnic food reporting has risen to Pulitzer level. Its ascent is due to Jonathan Gold, who writes the Counter Intelligence restaurant reviews for LA Weekly. Gold has been awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for criticism.

He is the first food critic to be so honored. Even more surprising, Gold is not an elitist who praises rare delicacies in elegant prose, as would seem fitting for such a distinguished award. Gold’s reviews are peppered with words such as “funk” and “stinky,” and he writes mostly of low-down ethnic restaurants where the beautiful people fear to venture.

No one can rival Gold as an observer of the ethnic food scene in Los Angeles. His Counter Intelligence reviews have an enormous following. The writing is wildly colorful, entertaining and well-informed. An “erudite eater,” the Pulitzer Board called him.   

From now on, a Gold review will confer status upon even the humblest street stand. Those critics who strive to impress with their taste for expensive, esoteric food must be stomping on sour grapes. Gold has only to write about fabulously funky brain tacos to outclass them all.

 

Back in L.A., Korean Noodles

I would guess that few people in the towering office buildings on Wilshire Boulevard near Normandie realize that a very good Korean restaurant, Myung Dong Noodle House, is around the corner.

 

Small and homey, Myung Dong is almost hidden between a dry cleaning establishment and a hair salon in a mall on Irolo, which is the extension of Nomandie Avenue south of Wilshire.  The neon sign in the window is in Korean, not English. And you have to buzz to get in at night.

 

Except for myself and a few friends, I haven't seen a soul there who isn't Korean, which tells me the food is authentic and delicious.

 

The handmade noodles are certainly good. They're springy and firm, adding great texture to soups such as kal guksu. This bowl of rich broth, shredded chicken, noodles and vegetables is a lovely mild restorative. But watch out for kal guksu in which kimchi replaces chicken. If you can't tolerate the spicy broth, just pull out the noodles. They're delicious with a little of the red-hot liquid clinging to them, like sauce.

 

A third kal guksu is made with anchovy broth, which tastes pleasantly of the sea and not at all like anchovy-topped pizzas or Caesar salad dressing.

 

When is a noodle not a noodle? When the dough is torn into raggedy strips and dropped into broth. These dough flake soups are called sujebi.. One is spicy with kimchi. The other, hang a ri sujebi, is mild, unless you spice it up with table condiments. It too is made with anchovy broth, and the tradition in Korea is to eat it on rainy summer days.

 

The chewy fine noodles in jjolmyeon are not handmade, but that's no reason not to order this dish. As a matter of fact, it's a favorite with teenagers in Korea. You may never have had a bowl of pasta this red. The noodles are tossed with Korean sweet-hot red pepper paste and topped with fine cucumber shreds and hard-boiled egg.

 

The English translations on the menu help, but can lead you astray. Handmade noodles with clams is nothing like the common Italo-American dish of pasta with clam sauce. It's a bowl of seafood soup containing clams, squid, mussels, shrimp and blue crab as well as thin strips of zucchini, potato and chewy seaweed. The soup is delicate and soothing, unless you add some of the extraordinarily spicy red concoction that comes in a little pot on the side

 

Almost a third of the menu is devoted to Myung Dong's other specialty, the popular chicken, rice and ginseng soup called samgye tang. What takes up space is the long description of the traditions connected with this soup and the way Myung Dong prepares it. This is in Korean, with no English translation.

 

Light, fresh and invigorating, samgye tang arrives steaming in a black pottery bowl. Spoon around and you'll come up with ginseng roots, glutinous rice, jujubes (Asian red dates), chestnuts, pine nuts, garlic and green onion tops. The small chicken is cut in half for sharing, and there's a dish of mixed salt, pepper and sesame seeds for dipping.

 

Myung Dong offers bulgogi (barbecued beef), but this is not a barbecue restaurant, so I wouldn't make a point of ordering it. Try instead mandu (dumplings) in soup or steamed, accompanied by soy sauce and vinegar, or one of the jorims�fish stewed along with sliced daikon and whole garlic cloves in a sweetened dark sauce. 

 

The banchan (side dishes) that accompany meals are very good, and the kimchi, which is made in house, is excellent. 

 

Myung Dong Noodle House, 698 S. Irolo Street, #105, Los Angeles. Tel: (213) 251-1066. Open 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sunday. Prices range from $8 to $18.50, with most dishes under $10.

De Olivas i Lustres, Buenos Aires

Eating at De Olivas i Lustres is like swirling in a kaleidoscope of food. This tapas restaurant bedazzles with plate after plate of beguiling tastes, presented in engaging ways.

The night I went, the salad that accompanied duck pate was tucked into a square glass box. Tiny glasses held a morsel of fish on a base of creamy squash puree. White domes concealed corn flans. Sauces meandered around striking platters that looked as if the kitchen were staffed with architects and designers as well as cooks. The dinner plates were framed decorative tiles--anything to be different.   

The food is not just clever but good.  There is a nice balance between meaty tapas, such as a thin slice of beef on a stick, pancakes made with fish and brains; sticks of sweetbreads with figs, and meatless tastes such as olives coated with chopped peanuts, fried sticks of garbanzo flour pastry, cucumbers stuffed with cheese and garlic cloves in a sweet sauce.   

The courses are generous so that by the time dessert arrives, it may be easy to resist even such temptations as fresh strawberries with three creams, orange alfajores and a dense chocolate mousse.

The restaurant is great fun, and if you're out with people you don't know well, you'll find plenty to talk about on the table.

De Olivas i Lustres, Gorriti 3972, Palermo Viejo, Buenos Aires. Tel: 4867-3388. 

Steakless in Buenos Aires: Pacu at Jangada

Imagine a restaurant in Buenos Aires where no one has ordered steak.  That's asking the impossible in a city that regards beef as the staff of life.  Yet there is one place where this could happen. It is Jangada in Palermo Hollywood, a restaurant that specializes in fish.

The choice is between river fish with exotic names such as pacu, boga and tararira or sea fish such as salmon and corvina.   Pacu is so large that you have to share a serving with friends. The thin layer of fish and skin covers a plank garnished with lettuce, tomatoes, fat potato wedges and, what impressed me most, excellent crunchy onion rings. The fish itself is rather bland and oily.

My group started with an appetizer platter that included rabas (squid rings), fried vegetables in beer batter, fish sticks made with surubi, which is another river fish, and a bowl of mushrooms.

Our wine expert ordered a chilled Alamos 2004 Malbec Maceracion Atenuada from Catena Zapata in Mendoza. The long name means this Malbec had only 24 hours of skin contact and no time in oak. Light and fresh, it's a good match for seafood.

Jangada occupies an old house on a corner in what has become a trendy restaurant neighborhood.  The burgundy and white room has, as you might expect, driftwood and seashells displayed on one wall. But there is land-based food too, including pasion de ardillas, a ground nut semifreddo on a cookie-like base decorated with caramel and chocolate sauces. It's true that ardillas are passionate about nuts, but I doubt they'll ever taste this dessert. They're squirrels.

Jangada, Honduras 5799, Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires. Tel: 4777-4193.