Category Archives: Downtown

March 6, 2012 · 11:00 am

Jewish Deli Meets Pork Paradise

If UMAMIcatessen was the punchline of a joke, it would begin “A rabbi, a donut-maker and a pig walk into a bar.” Grand in scope and extremely ambitious, this highly anticipated deli adaptation of the uber-successful Umami Burger chain opened Downtown over the weekend and one cannot help but be impressed. Although you order at your table from a single menu, UMAMIcatessen is essentially four restaurants in one (plus a coffee bar and a cocktail bar), each with separate counters around the perimeter of its large industrial-chic dining room. These sub-restaurants are:

The Cure, whose name is no doubt a reference to the alleged medicinal qualities of its matzo ball soup. It features Kosher-style deli sandwiches such as pastrami on rye and turkey on challah. Other noshes include bagels with smoked fish, potato knishes and chopped liver.

Umami Burger, which features the restaurant chain’s awesome signature hamburgers. I almost always go for the amazing Truffle Burger made with housemade truffle cheese and truffle glace, or the equally excellent spicy Hatch Burger made with four types of green chiles and housemade American cheese. However, UMAMIcatessen has some burgers that you can’t always get at the other Umami Burger locations. These include the yummy Shrimp Burger with Yuzu-Kosho and burgers which are on the “Secret Menu” such as the delicious Spicy Bird, a turkey burger with hatch chilies, crispy onion strings, beer cheddar cheese and a spicy diablo sauce.

P!GG, which is a tribute to pork all around the world from San Francisco celebrity chef Chris Constantino, the Overlord of Offal. It features high-end prosciutto and other charcuterie, as well as lard fried snacks such as Crispy Pig Ears with parsley and lemon, Pork Corn (popcorn) with juniper and rosemary and tasty P!GG Style Fries with pickled peppers, ham puree and “brainaise,” a scrumptious sauce made with mayonnaise and pig brains! I also highly recommend the Little Gems Salad with pork cracklins and an incredible nduja vinagrette, made with Constantino’s famous spreadable pork sausage.

& a Donut, which serves six different varieties of gourmet donuts fried to order, including an amazing soaked Tres Leches Donut with cajeta and ceylon cinnamon and the sinfully delicious “FG&J,” a playful spin on a jelly donut, made with foie gras mousse, forest berry jam and crushed peanuts. They also have homemade soft serve ice cream and sorbet.

With so many great things going on, UMAMIcatessen is an incredibly fun experience; one that I will no doubt repeat often. It’s located at 852 Broadway, Los Angeles (Downtown).

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Mini Potato Knishes

Little Gem Salad with little gem lettuce, cracklins & nduja vinagrette

Shrimp Burger with Yuzu-Kosho

Spicy Bird Burger with turkey patty, crispy onion straws, hatch chilis, beer cheddar cheese and diablo sauce

PIGG Style Fries with pickled peppers, ham puree & “brainaise” sauce

FG&J Donut with foie gras mousse, forest berry jam and peanuts

Tres Leches Donut fried and soaked to order with cajeta and ceylon cinnamon

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February 14, 2012 · 9:30 am

14 Best Peanut Butter Treats In LA

I am a peanut butter fanatic, a peanut butter fiend, a peanut butter junkie. I am nuts about peanut butter and I love it more than almost anything else. If a restaurant or bakery has a peanut butter dessert on the menu, I automatically order it. And I always keep a jar at home in the fridge for snacking or adding to other desserts. After years of dedicated research, I share with you my 14 favorite peanut butter treats in Los Angeles (in no particular order).

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cream Cookie from Xtreme Desserts

1. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cream Cookie from Xtreme Desserts (11990 Ventura Blvd., Studio City) A peanut butter cream cheese filling sandwiched between two soft chocolate chip cookies with chocolate ganache drizzled on top. One of the best things ever!

Peanut Butter Meringue Pie from Pie 'n Burger

2. Peanut Butter Meringue Pie from Pie ‘n Burger (913 E. California in Pasadena) This is one awesome pie. Creamy and delicious peanut butter pudding in a delcious butter crust topped with meringue. They serve it every other day, alternating with Butterscotch Meringue Pie.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream from Mashti Malone's

3. Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream from Mashti Malone’s Ice Cream (1525 N. La Brea Ave. in Hollywood) Rich and creamy with chunks of peanut butter and chocolate. It’s surprising that a store famous for their Persian rosewater ice creams and sorbets would make the best peanut butter ice cream in the city, but they do!

The Huell from Stan's Doughnuts

4. The Huell from Stan’s Doughnuts (10948 Weyburn Ave. in Westwood) Stan’s actually makes three amazing peanut butter doughnuts: a Peanut Butter & Banana Doughnut, a PB&J Doughnut and “The Huell,” with chocolate chips and peanut butter, named after local TV celebrity Huell Howser.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Macaron from 'Lette Macarons

5. Peanut Butter and Jelly Macaron from ‘Lette Macarons (9466 Charleville Boulevard in Beverly Hills, 333 S Alameda Street in Downtown and 14 S. Fairoaks Ave. in Pasadena) The exciting marriage of a simple childhood favorite with a refined French pastry. Tastes really good too!

Peanut Butter Chip Cupcake from Sprinkles Cupcakes

6. Peanut Butter Chip Cupcake from Sprinkles Cupcakes (9635 S. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills) My all-time favorite cupcake. Chocolate chip-studded peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting covered in chocolate sprinkles. They only have them on Tuesdays and Sundays.

Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Cakewich from Cake Monkey

7. Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Cakewich from Cake Monkey Bakery (available in all Umami Burger locations as well as other restaurants and gourmet shops) Yummy yellow cake sandwich filled with peanut buttercream, housemade marshmallow and coated with bittersweet chocolate.

Pnut Butter Puff from The Groovy Gourmet Pnut Butter Bar Truck

8. Pnut Butter Puff from The Groovy Gourmet Pnut Butter Bar Truck Los Angeles has its own peanut butter-themed gourmet food truck and this sinful confection is their speciality. It’s like a large fluffy peanut butter beignet and is topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwich from Down Beat Cafe

9. Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwich from Down Beat Cafe (10202 N. Alvarado St. in Echo Park) This funky hipster coffee shop bakes the best crispy peanut butter cookies in the city. They take two cookies and make a sandwich with a filling of peanut butter. Super delicious.

Peanut Butter Icebox Pie from Magnolia Bakery

10. Peanut Butter Icebox Pie from Magnolia Bakery (8389 W. 3rd Street in Mid-City) This is one of several peanut butter offerings from one of my favorite bakeries in the city. It has a super light, creamy and delicious filling which sits atop a denser crust. I can devour a slice in about five seconds flat.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Mochi from Fugetsu-Do

11. Peanut Butter Stuffed Mochi from Fugetsu-Do (315 E. 1st St. in Little Tokyo/Downtown) This sweet shop has some of the best mochi in town and my favorites are these soft and chewy mochi disks stuffed with peanut butter. It’s the Japanese equivalent of an Abba Zabba bar!

Deep Fried Fluffer Nutter with Fresh Bananas from Black Market Liquor Bar

12. Deep Fried Fluffer Nutter with Fresh Bananas from Black Market Liquor Bar (11915 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City) Top Chef’s Antonia Lofaso has created this dessert sandwich of peanut butter, marshmallow and bananas on sweet brioche, which is covered with panko bread crumbs and deep fried until golden. It’s wicked good!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar from Joan's on Third

13. Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar from Joan’s on Third (8350 W. 3rd St. in Mid-City) Joan’s on Third makes amazing baked goods and this dense peanut butter bar with jam on top is no exception. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and excellent with a cold glass of milk.

Peanut Butter Pinkberry

14. Peanut Butter Pinkberry (numerous locations) Pinkberry hit it out of the park with their rich and luscious peanut butter flavor! Try it with the peanut butter crunch topping, strawberries and a dollop of jelly. They don’t carry this flavor at all locations (what’s with that?!), so call first.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwich

HONORABLE MENTION: Diddy Riese Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwich (926 Broxton Ave. in Westwood) There always seems to be a line outside Diddy Riese, which bakes up delicious cookies. I love their ice cream sandwich made with Dreyer’s Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream and peanut butter cookies. At $1.75, the price can’t be beat!

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UPDATE: The Groovy Gourmet Pnut Butter Bar Truck is no longer on the streets. Xtreme Desserts closed their Studio City store, but you can find their Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cream Cookies at many LA locations including Crave in Sherman Oaks and Studio City.

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Filed under Beverly Hills, Downtown, Echo Park, Food Trucks, Hollywood, Mid-City, Pasadena, Studio City, Westwood

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January 26, 2012 · 10:50 am

Sayonara Sushi Nazi

If you read this blog regularly, you know how much I love Japanese food. So it’s not a surprise that I’m going to be attending the Japanese Food and Sake Collection this Sunday. Many of the best Japanese restaurants in LA will be serving up some of the city’s finest sushi, ramen, okonomiyaki, tempura, yakisoba and yakitori. Endless amounts of premium sake and beer will be flowing. There will be sushi-eating and sake-tasting competitions, cooking demonstrations from Nobu Matsuhisa (of Nobu and Matsuhisa restaurants) and Katsuya Uechi (of Katsu-ya), and traditional Japanese entertainment. The Festival is being held at the Hilton in Universal City from 11-4. Tickets (which are $60 for adults) and more information can be obtained by clicking here.

Speaking of Japanese food, I hear that legendary sushi chef Kazunori Nozawa is going to retire and close his revered eponymous restaurant, Sushi Nozawa, on February 29th. Lovingly dubbed the “Sushi Nazi” because of his similarities to the “Soup Nazi” character on Seinfeld, the stern Nozawa demands that his patrons follow his rules (no talking on cell phones, no dipping of sushi which has been prepared with sauce, no eating only the fish and leaving over the sushi rice, etc.) and show the proper respect to the master and the sushi he meticulously prepares. On more than one occasion, I have seen Nozawa kick diners out of his small and sparse mini-mall restaurant who blatantly disregard his rules. I was almost evicted once myself when my wife insisted on ordering a Vegetable Roll, even though I warned her ahead of time about that kind of thing. Nozawa is a sushi purist and things like Vegetable Rolls, California Rolls and Spicy Tuna are anathema to him.

However, if you put yourself in Nozawa-san’s hands and follow his advice of “trust me,” which is prominently displayed on a wooden placard behind the sushi bar in reference to the omakase (chef’s choice) special, you will experience incredible life-alerting sushi prepared by a sushi genius. Nozawa’s sushi has pretty much ruined me for almost all other sushi in the city. The rice is warm and delicious and the fish is super fresh and of the highest quality. It literally melts in your mouth. I hear sushi chefs from other restaurants follow Nozawa around the fish market because of his mastery of seafood selection. Everything I’ve ever eaten at Sushi Nozawa (including the Baby Tuna Sashimi in ponzu sauce, the Blue Crab Hand Rolls, the Toro, the Baby Yellowtail and the Uni) has been nothing short of amazing.

But it should be noted that even after Nozawa retires, a bit of the magic will still live on. For the past couple years, Nozawa’s son Tom and a couple partners have been opening locations around Los Angeles of Sugarfish, a somewhat less expensive spin-off of Sushi Nozawa where the decor is modern and the chefs, who are trained by Kazunori Nozawa himself, prepare your sushi in a back kitchen, hidden from view. I hear that Sushi Nozawa will be turned into a Sugarfish. I like Sugarfish quite a bit and the sushi there is very similar to Sushi Nozawa, but nothing beats the mothership and I will be devastated when Nozawa retires. It will truly be the end of an era.

Sushi Nozawa is located at 11288 Ventura Blvd in Studio City. It is not open on weekends. Sugarfish has locations in Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, Brentwood and Downtown.

Baby Tuna Sashimi in Ponzu Sauce

Yellowtail Sushi

Crab Hand Rolls

Toro (Fatty Tuna) Sushi

Uni (Sea Urchin) Sushi

Red Snapper Sushi

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Filed under Brentwood, Downtown, Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, Studio City

Tagged as Best Sushi LA, Best Sushi Los Angeles, Japanese Food and Sake Festival, Japanese Food Festival, Kazunori Nozawa, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Japanese Food Festival, Nozawa, Nozawa closing, Nozawa retiring, Sugar Fish, Sugarfish, Sugarfish Nozawa, Sushi Nazi, Sushi Nozawa, Sushi Nozawa closing, Sushi Studio City

January 19, 2012 · 11:00 am

BÃ¤co-licious

I cannot stop thinking about BÃ¤co Marcat, an awesome new Downtown restaurant from Josef Centeno, the super-talented chef of Lazy Ox Canteen. I think it’s the quintessential LA restaurant. Like Los Angeles, it’s not formal; it’s cool and laid back with a rustic industrial chic interior that feels very 2012. The cuisine defies classification and is incredibly original. Like the population here, the food is an eclectic mix of cultures including Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern and Moroccan. Most of all, BÃ¤co Marcat is fun! They make and bottle their own “BÃ¤co Pop,” an orange ginger juniper soda and they have an amazing bar serving super cool and inventive cocktails with names like the “Gin-Pop!” and the “Black Mint Spritz.”

There are so many great things on the menu, it’s hard to know where to start. First of all, there are the “BÃ¤cos,” inventive and scrumptious sandwiches prepared with the chef’s signature flat bread. I highly recommend “The Original” BÃ¤co with pork belly, beef carnitas and salbitxada (a savory sauce similar to romesco), as well as “The Touron” BÃ¤co with oxtail hash, pickles, crispy potatoes and cheddar. I also recommend the BÃ¤zole Soup, which is kind of cross between a Japanese Ramen and a Mexican Pazole, made with house-made noodles, pork-chile broth, pork and beef carnitas and a fried egg. There are also delicious “Cocas,” crispy flat breads with a variety of toppings including one with house-made Merquez sausage, harissa and goat cheese. BÃ¤co Mercat has several yummy specialty salads and vegetable dishes including my favorite dish on the whole menu, Kabocha Squash with brown butter. I’ve had pureed squash a million times before, but never like this; it is outrageously good! If you have room for dessert (or even if you don’t have room for dessert!), order the Pistachio Semifreddo Dark with pine nuts, caramel and sea salt. This sweet and salty dessert completely blew me away. If I lived or worked Downtown, I would probably eat here everyday.

BÃ¤co Mercat is located at 408 S. Main St., Los Angeles (Downtown).

They make their own sodas!

Spice Roasted Peanuts with paprika

BÃ¤zole (soup with house-made noodles, pork, chile broth, pork & beef carnitas with fried egg)

"The Toron" BÃ¤co (sandwich with oxtail hash, pickle, tater & cheddar)

Kabocha Squash with brown butter

"The Tomato & Cheese" Coca (crispy flat bread with confit tomato sauce, mozzarella & smoked jalepeno)

Pistachio Semifreddo Dark with pine nuts, caramel & sea salt

I love this place!

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Tagged as Baco, Baco Downtown Los Angeles, Baco Los Angeles, Baco Mercat, baco mercat los angeles, baco mercat menu, baco mercat review, Baco sandwich, Downtown LA restaurants, Downtown Los Angeles restaurants, josef centeno, josef centeno baco mercat, Pistachio Semifreddo

January 4, 2012 · 11:00 am

Shut Your Pie Hole

Everyone else can vow to go to the gym and eat healthier in 2012. My New Year’s resolution is to eat more pie. Obviously I’m kidding; well, maybe half-kidding. But even if I tried to watch it with the sweets, it would be difficult since I just discovered what is possibly the best pie I have ever tasted. It’s a Maple Custard Pie and it puts all other pies heretofore consumed by me to shame. This pie is the perfect combination of a sublime buttery not-too-sweet crust and an incredible caramelized custardy filling. I found it at The Pie Hole, a new pie joint packed with vintage-wearing, Weezer-listening hipsters and located downtown in the Ã¼ber-hip Downtown Arts District, right across the street from Ã¼ber-hip Wurstkuche.

The Pie Hole has a limited menu inscribed on hanging rolls of butcher paper each day of both sweet and savory pies. The daily pie offerings depend on what’s in season and what looks good to the Pie Hole’s bakers at local farmer’s markets that week. All the pies are baked on the premises and sold, along with great organic coffee, until they run out each day. The last couple times I was there, the savory pies included a tasty Chicken Pot Pie, a Mac-N-Cheese Hand Pie and a Burrata, Tomato & Basil Pocket Pie. The sweet pies included Lemon Meringue, Poached Pear and Cranberry, Mexican Chocolate and Bourbon Chocolate Pecan. They also had a delicious Chocolate, Caramel and Sea Salt Crostata (which is technically not a pie, but a shallow tart baked on a cookie sheet) as well as a triangular Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Almond “Pie Bar.” Every pie I tried was good, but the clear stand-out was the Maple Custard. It’s hard to put a price on perfection, but most slices cost around $6. This is comfort food at its best and worth every penny.

The Pie Hole is located at 714 Traction Ave., Los Angeles (Downtown).