Category Archives: Santa Monica

April 10, 2012 · 11:00 am

The Cat’s Meow

I have a friend who is an aspiring comedic screenwriter. He says things like “I’m on a seafood diet — I see food and I eat it.” Not surprisingly, he doesn’t sell a lot of screenplays. But he did introduce me to my favorite seafood restaurant in LA, The Hungry Cat. In stark contrast to stodgy, old school seafood restaurants like McCormick & Schmick’s and Delmonico’s, The Hungry Cat is cool, sleek and modern. It has the best raw bar in the city and amazing, creative seafood concoctions. The Hungry Cat is also a great place to drink and has some of the freshest and tastiest cocktails in town; cocktails such as the Dorian Grey (Earl Grey-infused Plymouth Gin, blood orange, lemon, Sombra Mezcal), the Petula Clark (Pimm’s, Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, lemon, egg whites & house-made absinthe bitters) and the Hot Tamale (Reposado Tequila, orange, and lime juice with Fresno chili simple syrup).

The menu at The Hungry Cat changes daily. I recommend starting with selections from the raw bar. The oysters, lobster and snow crab legs are delicious, but if you want to try something a little different, order the fresh uni served in the shell; if you’ve never scraped sea urchin out of its black, spiny, spherical carapace, you have been missing out! The super-fresh raw fish dishes are ingenious and I recommend ordering at least one. Favorites of mine include the Tandoori Cured Char with Spiced Lebani Yogurt, Cucumber, Pickled Pineapple, Pepper Cress & Dates and the Big Eye Tuna Tartare with White Miso, Pickled Mushrooms, Shiso, Peanuts & Nori Crackers. For entrees, I recommend the House-made Chorizo and Braised Clams with Shell Beans, Black Kale, Grilled Bread & Aioli, as well as the Sea Urchin Risotto with Chanterelles, Slow Cooked Egg and Pea Tendrils. Surprisingly, The Hungry Cat also has a fantastic burger called The Pug Burger, which has blue cheese, bacon, avocado and optional fried egg. I wouldn’t normally order a burger at a seafood restaurant, but if you’re splitting several things, this dog-dubbed dish makes a nice contrast to the Cat’s coastal cuisine.

The Hungry Cat is located at 1535 N. Vine St. in Hollywood and 100 W. Channel Road in Santa Monica. If you enjoy Consuming LA, please subscribe, like me on Facebook and/or follow me on twitter at the top right of this page. And please forward to your friends!

Great Cocktails

Oysters and Sea Urchin

Tandoori Cured Char, Spiced Lebani Yogurt, Cucumber, Pickled Pineapple, Pepper Cress & Dates

Big Eye Tuna Tartare, White Miso, Pickled Mushrooms, Shiso, Peanuts & Nori Crackers

Grilled Asparagus, Pancetta, Walnuts, Arugula & Crispy Egg

House-made Chorizo and Braised Clams with Shell Beans, Black Kale, Grilled Bread & Aioli

Sea Urchin Risotto, Chanterelles, Slow Cooked Egg and Pea Tendrils

Best raw bar in LA!

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

November 19, 2011 · 2:29 pm

A Sweet Thanksgiving

For most of us, the Thanksgiving meal is all about succulent roast turkey, savory herbed stuffing, buttery mashed potatoes, and tart and sweet cranberry relish. However, a great Thanksgiving meal should be like a great concert at the Hollywood Bowl; you need to end it with a fireworks finale! So whether you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner or you’re an invited guest thinking about what to bring, here are some really cool and unusual Thanksgiving desserts which are sure to impress.

Gourmet Thanksgiving Pies

1. Gourmet Thanksgiving Pies. These are probably the most beautiful, upscale and delicious Thanksgiving pies I have ever seen or tasted. Super talented French pastry chef Romain Drocourt of The Little Door and Little Next Door has created elevated versions of pecan and pumpkin pies with French flare. These elegant and sophisticated pies make the ones at Marie Calendar’s and House of Pies look like their poor Hillbilly cousins. The Pecan Pie is made with toasted and caramelized pecans, a thin gingerbread spice tart shell and lemon mascarpone and maple syrup cream on top and comes with a side of Earl Grey sauce. The Pumpkin Pie is made with organic pumpkin, praline custard and yummy homemade cinnamon marshmallows. You can purchase them both (make sure to order in advance) at the bakery at Little Next Door, along with a really cool table centerpiece: a large French baguette bread with sesame seeds in the shape of a Turkey (pictured above). I like to call it a “Vegetarian Turkey.” Little Next Door is located at 8142 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles (in Mid-City near West Hollywood)

Thanksgiving Cupcake Fourpack

2. Thanksgiving Cupcakes. Starting this Monday, for only three days, Yummy Cupakes will bring back their Thanksgiving themed cupcakes. These Turkey Day-inspired flavors are Marshmallow Yam (yam cupcake filled with marshmallow fluff and frosted with a brown sugar buttercream), Lime Jell-O (lime cupcake filled with lime Jell-O and topped with lime whipped cream frosting), Pumpkin Pie (pumpkin cake topped with a pumpkin cream cheese frosting) and Turkey Gravy Cranberry (a turkey gravy cupcake seasoned with savory Thanksgiving gravy, filled with a fresh cranberry relish and topped with a cranberry cream cheese frosting). I haven’t tried the Turkey Gravy ones but you can bet I will be first in line try one on Monday. Yummy Cupcakes has three locations: 2918 W. Magnolia Blvd in Burbank, 313 Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, and 220 26th Street, Santa Monica (near Brentwood).

Candied Yam Ice Cream

3. Thanksgiving Ice Cream. One of my favorite ice cream shops in LA, Sweet Rose Creamery, is now selling several fun and delicious Thanksgiving flavors including Candied Yam, Cranberry Orange Sorbet, Spiced Pumpkin, Apple Cider and Quince with Manchego. I’ve tried them all and my favorites are Candied Yam (which has pieces of marshmallow in it) and Spiced Pumpkin. They also have three special holiday ice cream pies which look like traditional pumpkin, pecan and apple pies (make sure to order these in advance). The Pecan Ice Cream Pie has Salted Caramel Ice Cream and butter pecans in a chocolate cookie crust. The Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie has Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream with whipped milk and pepitas and is dusted with cinnamon sugar in a ginger cookie crust. The Apple Pie Ice Cream Pie has Apple Pie Ice Cream topped with caramel sauce and is dusted with cinnamon sugar in a graham cracker crust. Sweet Rose Creamery is located in the Brentwood Country Mart at 225 26th Street in Santa Monica (near Brentwood).

Happy Thanksgiving!

The New Object of My Affection

Please don’t tell my wife, but I have fallen in love with a recent acquaintance. We met at a bar in Santa Monica a couple weeks ago and I have been thinking about her everyday since. The object of my affection is hot, enticing, earthy but sophisticated. In all candor, she’s also doughy and cheesy. She is a mushroom and truffle pizza; the best pizza I have ever had in LA and one of the best pizzas I have ever had in my life. I discovered this amazing umami white pizza, which has shaved Crimini mushrooms, gruyere, melted onions, black truffle, torn parsley, romemary and thyme, at Stella Rossa Pizza Bar, an exciting new restaurant which opened earlier this year.

The surprising thing about this pizza discovery is that I wouldn’t usually order a mushroom pizza; it was selected by my daughter who was dining with me. I almost always go for the meat and, accordingly, we also ordered the Housemade Organic Sausage Pizza with ground sausage made daily at Stella Rossa, tomato, fresh mozzarella, hand-picked oregano, fennel pollen and optional calabria chiles for extra heat. I loved the sausage pizza, but the mushroom pizza is the one that really blew me away.

The mastermind behind these amazing pizzas is a young genius chef named Jeff Mahin, who, at age 27, has already worked in three of best restaurants in the world – Arzak in Spain, Nobu in New York and my all-time favorite restaurant, The Fat Duck in England. The son of a scientist and an engineer, Mahin fashions himself a “food scientist” of sorts and has spent years researching and developing the perfect pizza. Although the quality and combinations of toppings on these pizzas are phenomenal, everyone knows that what makes a truly great pizza is the crust and the crust here is incredible. Chef Mahin uses a special blend he created of locally milled flour, filtered water, sea salt and fresh yeast and allows the dough mixture to ferment for at least 18 hours before assembling the pizzas and baking them in an ultra-hot 600 degree oven. The result is a crust which is golden and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside. I am salivating just thinking about it.

Stella Rossa has other great offerings besides pizza. Their Oven Roasted Beet Carpaccio made with fresh burrata, toasted pistachios, aged balsamic and wild arugula, is an absolute must-have. I also like their Spinach & Purple Kale Salad with pecorino romano, medjool dates, shaved radishes and mustard vinaigrette. For dessert, I highly recommend the Salted Caramel Pot de Creme with Creme Fraiche; it’s a really delicious cup of pudding. The dimly lit restaurant, which plays great music and has a hip and relaxed atmosphere, also features a really great wine and beer list.

Stella Rossa Pizza Bar is located at 2000 Main Street in Santa Monica. UPDATE: Stella Rossa has changed its name to Stella Barra Pizzeria and has opened a second location in Hollywood.

Oven Roasted Beet Carpaccio

Spinach & Purple Kale Salad

Homemade Organic Italian Sausage Pizza

Roasted Apple Cobbler with Creme Fraiche

Salted Caramel Pot de Creme

I love this place!

7 Comments

Filed under Santa Monica

Tagged as Arzak, Best Pizza LA, Best Pizza Los Angeles, Best Pizza Santa Monica, Fat Duck, Jeff Mahin, Mushroom and Truffle Pizza, Nobu, stella barra pizzeria santa monica, stella barra santa monica, Stella Rossa, Stella Rossa Pizza, Stella Rossa Pizza Bar

May 11, 2011 · 11:00 am

This Little Place Has Balls

Sunny Blue is a cool little place on Main Street in Santa Monica and the first (and probably only) Omusubi store in Southern California. Omusubi (sometimes called Onigiri) are Japanese rice balls with different fillings and an optional seaweed wrapper; kind of a Japanese version of a sandwich. At Sunny Blue, the omusubi are made to order right in front of you and they are warm and delicious! My favorite is the Beef Miso which is made with grilled onions and homemade organic miso sauce; it is really well seasoned and tasty. The Hijiki Shitake with tofu, carrots and green peas in a soy sauce base is another good choice and also great for vegetarians. Other varieties include Tuna Mayo, Spicy Salmon, Spicy Tuna, Chicken Takokami, and Shiso Ume (pickled Japanese plum with shiso leaves). The Omusubi are the perfect size for a snack, but unless you’re on a diet, I would recommend ordering at least two if you’re there for lunch or dinner. There are also optional sides including Edamame, Cucumber Sunomono, Daikon Salad and Japanese Pickles. Sunny Blue offers complimentary Barley Tea, which I’m not really a fan of, but it is free. They are also a yogurt shop and have really light and delicious frozen yogurt in a variety of flavors and and with a great array of toppings including some cool Japanese toppings like Azuki Red Beans, Match Green Tea and Japanese Pocky cookies.