writerinla's Profile
Cooking Class?
California Sushi Academy in West LA offers a one day basic sushi course for $80 per person. All you need to bring is a sharp knife. Not in OC, but I've taken the class and its definitely worth the trip since you learn all the basic techniques and tricks for sushi prep.
I've Got Olives...
Thanks for the info.
The olives are all green and cured using a variation on the Greek method, but instead of smashing the them I simply cut a slit on one side to get the water inside them. I cured them for 2 months using just water (changed every day) and thereafter I brined them in water and kosher salt, changed every 10-14 days.
I've Got Olives...
Here's the story:
I harvested a bunch of fresh olives from a tree in my yard late last summer and they have been brining in a large bucket ever since then. Now they have lost nearly all of their bitterness, and they are ready to be jarred. So now what?
This is the first time I've ever done this, so I am looking for any tips from people who may have done this themselves. Any good recipes for jarring? Anything I should know about the process. I've had experiencing canning/jarring other things - jams, chutney, preserved lemons - so I have a general idea what to do. But any help is appreciated...
Defunct Restaurants ......are these all long gone ?
Velvet Turtle is no longer around. However, if you're willing to make the trip there is Wally's Desert Turtle out in Rancho Mirage (near Palm Springs) which is owned by the same family that started Velvet Turtle. It is certainly "fine dining", as in $$$$, but the food is excellent and very old school.
Tiki Drinks?
If you're willing to venture out that way, try the Tonga Hut, on Victory in North Hollywood. It is an authentic tiki bar that's been around since the 50s. It doesn't open until 4 PM, but usually isn't a mob scene like Tiki Ti can be. Unfortunately, I don't think you're going to find much that's open for lunchtime tiki cocktails.
http://www.tongahut.com/
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Tonga Hut
12808 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606
variations of pesto?
I use sunflower seeds in pesto rather than pine nuts. It's a less expensive option and adds makes the flavor nuttier. I buy them raw and toast them right before making the pesto.
Tops Jr Alhambra
Oh, yeah! I remember what old town was like when I was in high school - it was just a Salvation Army, an adult bookstore and Ernie Jr's Taco House. I used to love Ernie Jr's for cheap Mexican. I have to say, though, Old Town improved in the 90s with lots of new small restaurants and businesses, but now it has become stale and corporate. Lots of restaurant chains now, because they're the only ones that can afford the high rents. That said, I haven't been there for a while.
Alhambra still has some great places I remember from back in the day, like Fosselman's and Genovese's Pizza.
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Genovese's Pizza
2900 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801
Tops Jr Alhambra
HoundDogz, I graduated from South Pas High in 85, but still had friends in town and continued to go there from time to time until the mid-90s. I probably haven't been there in about 13-15 years.
Tops Jr Alhambra
I grew up in South Pasadena, not too far from Tops Jr., and I used to eat there all the time. The hamburgers were great but what I used to live for were the onion rings. That said, I haven't been there in a while and I can't vouch whether the quality is still there.
40th Birthday Party Venue
I'm leaving it open at this point. best case scenario would $20-30 a person for food and the venue let us bring our own booze.
40th Birthday Party Venue
OK, here's places I've looked at.
La Cabana in Venice - seems like a good place for a party, but I've eaten there and the food is so-so.
Burton Chase Park in Marina del Rey - you can rent their multipurpose room and bring your own.
Ca del Sole - food is good but out of my price range
Oiwake in Little Tokyo - does have karaoke which would be fun, but the food again is so-so and may be difficult to accommodate the number of people.
Does that help? The food style I'm open to (anything but steakhouses) and it doesn't have to be gourmet. So far, other than Ca del Sole, I've had no suggestions in the Valley, which would be preferred.
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Oiwake
122 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Los Angeles, CA 90012
40th Birthday Party Venue
One more detail- we're planning about 40-50 people will attend.
40th Birthday Party Venue
I'm looking for a birthday party venue for my wife's 40th in the San Fernando Valley. I'm also willing to go downtown or in Hollywood/Mid-City area (I'm open to any place, but we live in the SFV so it can't be too far).
It can be either just a venue you can reserve and rent, and bring your own food and booze, or a place that provides their own. I would prefer to have it catered with my own food and libations, but in this regard I'm also open.
I've scoured the boards already for suggestions, and have a few good ones but want to open up my options a little more.
I'm willing to spend some money, but not break the bank, so nothing too luxurious. I would just iike a place that's fun and memorable and it doesn't have to be expensive.
Vegan Hotspots
Try Vinh Loi Tofu in Reseda. The food is all vegan Vietnamese and chef's specialty is mock meats. Particularly good is the BBQ "duck".
Also, Garden Wok also in Reseda - all vegan Chinese food.
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Vinh Loi Tofu
18625 Sherman Way Ste 101, Reseda, CA 91335
Garden Wok
6117 Reseda Blvd Ste B, Tarzana, CA 91335
Places to buy Dutch milk used in coffee
I would agree that using evaporated milk would be a good substitute, and would suggest you make your coffee stronger to balance out the flavor (also, since Dutch coffee is typically stronger than the average US cup).
Try calling the Holland America store in Bellflower - they carry a lot of packaged Dutch food, and I believe I've seen the shelf-stable koffeemelk there:
http://www.1dutchmall.com/
Need a few specific recs for San Fernando Valley
I'd like to take a contrary view on Fromin's. I eat there all the time and find the breakfast food pretty decent. Not spectacular, just decent. That's what you expect for breakfast. People on these boards often recommend Brent's or Jinky's, and those are pretty good, but if you go to those places be prepared to wait, because these places are insanely busy. And forget about service. Fromin's at least is not insanely busy and the service is good and friendly.
On Casa Vega - while I'll agree the food is just your standard gringo Mexican food, it's just fine, and you really go there for the experience of it. It's a scene that is pretty unique in LA and a lot of fun. I often see celebrities there. It's worth a trip if you're going to be in LA for a short time.
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Fromin's Restaurant
17615 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91316
Casa Vega Restaurant
13301 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
THE VETTING ON MIRACLE MILE HAS BEGUN! Organic to Go's $8 prefab cafeteria tuna salad sandwiches and the wretched Toshi's have become the first victims of the far superior FancyTrucks™!
I have worked in the area for about nine years and I have to say I agree that restaurant selections are pretty mediocre. That's why I would bring my lunch to work pretty much every day. Never ate at Toshi's but the reports from others who did was that it wasn't very good. Organic to go was overpriced but OK. Callenders also has some edible items on the menu, but who wants to pay 12 bucks or more per person for mediocrity? If I had to go out I would go to Black Dog or just drive up to the Farmers Market.
It is economics, as another poster said, people aren't going out to eat as often these days, and now people don't want to put up with mediocre restaurant offerings in the Miracle Mile because they want more for their buck. So it's not surprising that two of them have closed. I know quite a few of the publishing and production companies that have offices in this area who have laid off people, so there are also fewer diners. The problem in Miracle Mile is that rents are crazy, so nobody wants to open a restaurant because it is so dependent on regular business. You would think people would, because of not only the office lunch crowd but LACMA being so close by - we have needed decent restaurants for years. But no one has stepped up. The old Johnnie's coffee shop has a prime spot on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire, but it is owned by the 99 Cent Store there who would prefer just to use the parking lot.
Now Kogi et al has showed up, and its a welcome sight: decent, inexpensive food. Giving the people what they want. Maybe someone will recognize that there are people in the area who like decent food and open up a good brick and mortar restaurant and it and the trucks can coexist.
Looking for Spicy Indian Food
If you want to venture over to the Valley, there's a place on Burbank Blvd. in Van Nuys called Passage to India. You can order pretty much any entree on the menu on the 1-5 scale, "phall" or 5 being the hottest. The phall food was the some of the spiciest food I've ever eaten.
Caprino Cheese
I'm looking for a place that sells this particular type of Italian goat's milk cheese. I'm in the Valley and I've tried Artisan Cheese in Studio City and Domingo's Italian market in Encino, but neither carry it. Any suggestions?
Please don't suggest places that are a shot in the dark - if you've seen this type of cheese somewhere, or remember that they sell the same types of cheeses, that would be more helpful.
Fav. mediocre eats (inspired by bianca pizza thread)
Casa Vega - I love their green salad served on a tostada shell, but their "mexican" food is pretty bland.
The lettuce wraps at PF Changs are addictive, and the Trader Joe's version doesn't really taste the same. Plus, I prefer the vegetarian version. But most of the other dishes on their menu are just so-so.
The House of Pies on Vermont - I used to go there all the time when I was a kid, especially after Dodger games. The pies are decent, and the reason to go, but its really just a temple for mediocre comfort food. The same goes for Little Joe's. again I used to go there all the time when I was a kid, and then popped in from time to time until it closed down a few years ago.
Musso and Frank's - always a partisan choice. I just love sitting in one of those creaky wooden booths and sipping on a martini, before a dinner of sanddabs and one of those little dinner salads, and thinking about all of the LA royalty through time that have done the same thing there.
I sense a running theme in a lot of these posts. They either A. go to a place that's mediocre for one particular dish that the place does well, or B. go for a sense of nostalgia. Sometimes a love for the simple and mediocre can be a welcome change to foodie fanaticism. I love great food, but I can appreciate well-done mediocrity as well.
Valley Greek Festival
I went last night - I can tell you they weren't serving retsina, but they did have Greek beer, wine and of course ouzo.
I had one of their dinner plates with spanakopita and baked feta, and they were pretty good. But the star of the show is the loukoumathes, fresh made donuts coated in honey and cinnamon, and there was a 20 minute line to get them as they came right out of the fryer. Light, airy and delicious.
Los Angeles Entertainment Book... Worth it?
My wife and I have bought it annually for a few years now, and have used it many times in the past. Most of the high profile restaurants don't participate, but there's lots of good smaller restaurants who do.
But I've found that restaurants who have been in there year after year have been dropping out of late. What's worse, recently I've tried to use coupons for places and given some unreasonable restrictions, or they just flat out won't honor them, giving an excuse that it only applies to certain locations or in certain situations that aren't printed on the coupon itself. I've found it's better to use the coupons when they first sell it at the beginning of the year otherwise people start balking at them because a lot of customers come in with them.
Most of the big chains will take them, if you eat at those kinds of places, coupons for Cold Stone and that kind of place are accepted without a problem. On top of that they have good deals for non-food items such as Dodger tickets, or the Zoo, or for movies.
Still, if you're only going to spend $10 for it, and you get to use it twice, it's already paid for itself. That's a good deal.
As far as recommendations, too many to mention...
Farmer's Market, 3rd & Fairfax
I'm surprised that people are complaining that the Farmers Market is turning into a mall food court. Just Starbucks and Pinkberry? Trust me, the Pinkberry will be gone in a couple of years when that trend dies down. There's also a Johnny Rockets and a Chipotle, but I don't think those detract from the better places there.
There are still lots of great places to eat that aren't chains. Even Du-par's, which is a chain, is better than most coffee shop food. I've eaten at the Banana Leaf, and did find it only so-so as well. But down the way there's Monseiur Marcel, Moishe's, Loteria, the Gumbo Pot and Bob's Donuts and Bennett's for dessert. Those are the standouts, but I've never had a bad meal at any of the places I've tried there. The other thing is that a lot of these places are very busy on weekends and the during the office lunchtime rush, so I don't think the good and successful places are likely going anywhere. I also like how they've kept most of the chains on the outside of the market while most of the smaller places occupy the prime spaces on the inside.
I hope you give the Market another try.
Remember Gorky's???
I miss the downtown Gorky's, too. It was part of the bustling art scene that was going on in that area in the 80s and 90s, so the clientele at Gorky's was pretty eclectic. I don't know if a place like it would survive now. Many of the downtown artists have been pushed out by yuppies, gentrification and higher rents.
There are a few things I remember about the menu. I loved their deep dish apple pie, a great treat at 2 in the morning. They also brewed their own beer, and this was way before brewpubs became trendy. It was pretty good as I remember. The food was OK, but the portions were huge and food cheap. I liked the pasta primavera, pretty basic, but everything was fresh. Good fuel if you're a starving college student/artist like I was at the time.
Good Pizza in Alhambra Area?
Genovese's on Main St. I grew up in South Pas, and on Genovese's pizza. It's better for take out, since the dining room isn't much (at least since the last time I was there).
Dark, atmospheric, vintage hidden gems
That's a great post, describes the place well.
One thing that gets mentioned is the prices - it's rare (no pun intended) to get a good steak that's under $20 in LA, much less 15.
I mostly go there for the bar - the great bloody mary, the martini - the drinks are cheap and strong.
You're right, it is the kind of place that's vanishing...
Dark, atmospheric, vintage hidden gems
The Sherman Room has got to be one of the diviest places in the Valley, beyond those that are downright scary. The place is small and dark, the food comes in three colors, brown, dark brown and white. No veggies here other than potatoes. But I love it. For what it is, the food is decent, and you feel like you've stepped back to a time when the Valley was all a bunch of new suburbs. Mostly blue collar people sitting in those red booths, eating steak, and washing it back with Miller High Life. The other places listed here are good, but the Sherman Room is pretty unique.
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Sherman Room
16916 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91406
Where Can I Find a Tofu Burger?
I second Orean. They used to be located in Beverly Hills right on Wilshire and I ate there all the time. The Pasadena location doesn't seem like much, as the place is small and doesn't even have a dining room. But if you get it to go, the tofu burgers are good.
if you venture down to the South Bay, the Spot in Hermosa has an excellent BBQ tofu sandwich.
Native Foods in Westwood has an excellent tempeh burger called the Bali Surf Burger. Tempeh is a less-processed version of tofu, a firm cake made of fermented soybeans. They also have some great veggie burgers on the menu.
To be honest, I've been a vegetarian for a long time, and I've found that tofu is not the best substitute for a hamburger patty. Even the firmest variety tends to fall apart when you bite into it and is a bit mushy. Tempeh or patties made from beans or grains tend to work better on burgers.
Best Indian restaurants in Sherman Oaks area?
Taste of India on Ventura:
www.tasteofindiala.com
Some of the best Indian food I've ever had.
Also, Passage to India:
14062 Burbank Blvd. Sherman Oaks.
The hottest Indian food I've ever had (if that's your cup of tea).
Also, if you want to venture over to Encino, try Taj Mahal, also on Ventura.
Lunch Near LACMA/Mid-Wilshire Area
I work across the street from LACMA, so here's my rundown of lunch places in the area.
If you want something within walking distance of LACMA:
Pentimento is in the LACMA complex. The food is decent, and the restaurant is run by the Patina group. However, a little pricey, as museum food often is. At least you can sit outside. Just east down Wilshire is a Marie Callendar's - It's actually a fancy one, and the food is a little more upscale version of what's usually offered there. That being said, the food is OK. I would say the choices are limited as far as walking distance, for anything that isn't fast food-like.
if you want to drive, I would definitely suggest Farmer's Market. Most of it is pretty serve-yourself casual, so if you want a good sit down dining experience go to Ulysses' Voyage (Greek food). It's on the Grove side of the market.
Also, south of Wilshire down Fairfax past Olympic, is Little Ethiopia with several delicious Ethiopian restaurants. I recommend Rosalind's at 1044 S. Fairfax.
Campanile is very good, but also expensive for lunch.
