Category Archives: Downtown

November 14, 2013 · 11:31 am

Delmy You Love Me

Of the eighty or so weekly farmers markets in Los Angeles County, the biggest and best is the one that pops up every Sunday in Hollywood. Branching out in all directions from the intersection of Vine and Ivar, the Hollywood Farmers Market is the perfect place to spend an hour shopping for organic persimmons and sampling artisan goat cheese while listening to a heavily tatted hipster discuss fair trade co-ops with a dreadlocked neo-hippie. Musicians are scattered throughout, including a bluegrass band, a reggae drummer, a guy that makes music with rubber bands, and my favorite local hot jazz combo, The California Feetwarmers.

The prepared food section has a lot of great choices, but Delmy Pupusas is my favorite. Pupusas are a popular street food in El Salvador. They’re thick round corn cakes that are stuffed with a variety of fillings such as cheese, vegetables, beans, shrimp, chicken and chorizo, and cooked on a griddle until golden brown. Delmy serves these hot stuffed Salvadoran treats with homemade salasa, a spicy and vinegary cabbage relish called curtido, guacamole and some fresh crema. A couple pupusas make a nice hearty lunch and are best washed down with Delmy’s homemade horchata or agua fresca, which comes in several flavors including watermelon, strawberry, mango and raspberry. For dessert, I recommend an order of Delmy’s fried plantains served with a side of black beans and fresh crema. Muy delicioso!

Delmy Pupusas can be found at the Hollywood Farmers Market every Sunday morning and early afternoon and at several other farmers markets including Torrance, Downtown in Pershing Square, Atwater Village, Echo Park and Silverlake.

Fried Plantains with Black Beans and Crema

Aguas Frescas

Every Sunday morning in the Hollywood Farmers Market

Delmy

Enjoy your pupusas with some live music.

My favorite farmers market

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Tagged as best farmers markets los angeles, best pupusas los angeles, delmy pupusa, delmy pupusaria, delmy pupusas, delmy's pupusaria, delmy's pupusas, farmers market pupusas, hollywood farmers market, los angeles farmers markets, pupusas farmers market

July 10, 2013 · 12:11 pm

Wonder-Ama

Angels Flight is an LA curiosity located in the heart of downtown. Built in 1901, it is known as “The Shortest Railway in the World,” and for 50Â¢, takes you up 298 feet to the top of Bunker Hill. A couple blocks away, on 4th Street, is another elevation of sorts. Bar AmÃ¡ is a new restaurant from Chef Josef Centeno (BÃ¤co Mercat and Lazy Ox Canteen) that serves elevated Tex-Mex fare.

Often described as bastardized Mexican cuisine from this side of the Border, Tex Mex is comfort food that is usually cheap and best enjoyed with a cold cerveza. For Chef Centeno, it’s the food that he grew up with and, at Bar AmÃ¡, he refines several Tex Mex classics and puts a new spin on others. There is of course Queso, a gloppy liquid cheese dip that is a Tex Mex staple and delectable Puffy Tacos filled with yummy Carne Guisada. My favorite dishes are an amazing Pork Belly Chicharron with Poblano Cream and Lime, and a decadent dessert of Leche Quemada (Burnt Milk) Pudding with Graham Cracker, Fennel Pollen, Peanut and Almond. Other menu items, such as the Rancho Gordo “Borracho” Beans with Beer, Cilantro and Bacon and the Albondigas with Corn & Sweet Potato Cake, Tomatillo and Baked Egg, sounded better than they tasted.

Not surprisingly, the elevated cuisine at Bar AmÃ¡ is pricier than the grub at most Tex Mex eateries. However, you’re dining in a nicer than normal space; a very cool industrial chic room with lots of reclaimed wood and southwest tiles. Also worth mentioning is the impressive bar stocked with an extensive array of high end tequillas and mezcals. For extra fun, you can follow your dinner with a ride on Angels Flight and experience a bit of LA history.

Bar AmÃ¡ is located at 118 W. 4th St., Los Angeles (Downtown). Don’t confuse it with fellow Downtown newbie Alma.

Tex-Mex Queso with Avocado, Sour Cream and Salsa

English Peas & Black Grapes with Crema, Arbol and Pea Tendril

Carne Guisada Puffy Tacos

Albondigas with Corn & Sweet Potato Cake, Tomatillo and Baked Egg

Fideo with Octopus & Kielbasa with Toasted Vermicelli and Pepitas

Leche Quemada (Burnt Milk) Pudding with Graham Cracker, Fennel Pollen, Peanut and Almond

Industrial Chic/Southwest Decor

Angels Flight

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July 3, 2013 · 11:08 am

Dead Chefs Society

Something very cool and collegiate is going on downtown at UMAMIcatessen. There’s a twelve-seat bar in the back of the restaurant that has been converted into “The Residency.” Here, visiting chefs create intimate and unique themed dinners. The latest is the Dead Chefs pop-up series presented by talented chef Micah Wexler (of the late great Mezze) and his partner Mike Kassar. Each meal is five courses, with optional wine pairing, inspired by the cuisine of a deceased chef. Wexler precedes each course with information about the legendary chef and an explanation of the dish you are about to consume. It’s kind of like that fun seminar that everyone wanted to take when you were in college with the cool visiting professor.

I recently attended one of these dinners; an homage to Maestro Martino di Como, a 15th-Century Italian culinarian who was the Western World’s first celebrity chef. The meal (pictured below) was molto buono and its highlight was a whole roasted suckling pig that Wexler carved table-side. Future Dead Chefs honored will include Julia Child, Jean-Louis Palladin, Sylvia Woods (the Queen of Soul Food) and Chen Kenmin (the father of Chinese Sichuan cooking).

The Residency at UMAMIcatessen is located at 852 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (Downtown). The Dead Chef dinners are at 7:15 and 9:00 every Thursday night until August 15th. Each dinner is $60 per person plus $30 for optional wine pairing.

Sgombri con Zucchini e Finocchi (Mackerel and Summer Squash with Wild Fennel Sauce)

Sgombri con Zucchini e Finocchi (Mackerel, Summer Squash with Wild Fennel Sauce)

Zanzarelli con Fava e Zafferano (Bread Soup with Fava Beans and Saffron)

Pasta with Arugula Pesto

Maialino da Latte Arrosto (Roasted Suckling Pig, Garlic, Herbs and Offal Sauce)

Crostata di Madorle (Almond Tarte with Date and Coffee and topped with Creme Fraiche)

Chef Micah Wexler educates and feeds you

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June 7, 2013 · 11:46 am

Badmaash is Badaash

Q: What do you get when you combine Downtown hipsters, a Warhol-esqe treatment of Mahatma Ghandi, craft beer and Chicken Tikka Poutine? A: Badmaash, which opened last month and appears to be the country’s first Indian Gastropub. Its name is Hindi slang for a rascal or mischief-maker, and this Indian bad boy sports a modern and Ã¼ber-cool look which includes blackboard walls and brightly-colored vintage Bollywood movie posters. Rock music and an eclectic selection of fruity wines, India pale ales and other microbrews create a party-like atmosphere which stimulates the chakras and brims with good karma.

The food is as fun as the decor. The menu offers a mix of Bombay street food, Indian fusion cuisine and traditional Indian favorites. Badmaash’s mash-up fare includes the aforementioned Chicken Tikka Poutine (which is excellent and pictured above), Crispy Tamarind Glazed Pork Belly with Housemade Pickles and Cilantro-Pineapple Yogurt, a Spiced Lamb Burger and Chili-Cheese Naan Bread. There’s even a blasphemously delicious beef dish (which you rarely see in Indian restaurants for religious reasons) called Holy Cow Keema POW! If you want to go old school, you can feast on Butter Chicken, Saag Paneer and Ghost Chili Lamb Vindaloo. To drink, I recommend trying an imported Thums Up soda, a spicy cola with a strong cardamom and cinnamon flavor. Namaste, LA foodies!

Badmaash is located at 108 W 2nd St, Los Angeles (Downtown).

Indian Pickles and Preserves (Housemade Pickles with House Mango Chutney and Tomato Chutney)

Holy Cow Keema POW!

Butter Chicken

Two Thums Up!

Super cool digs

Love the upstairs too!

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May 31, 2013 · 10:08 am

Alma Lovin’

Alma started as an acclaimed pop-up restaurant in Venice, but laid down roots last year next to a taxi dance hall downtown on South Broadway. It has a cool minimalistic and modern interior with an open kitchen where a talented young chef named Ari Taymor hones his craft. Taymor’s modern American cuisine is the food equivalent of a Terrence Malick film or an opera by Phillip Glass; in other words, it’s not for everyone. But for foodies and other bon vivants (myself included), dinner at Alma can be a very special experience.

The menu, which is printed in lower case letters on pages of a yellow legal pad, changes daily and features small plates composed of seasonal, market-driven ingredients, many of which are sourced from an exclusive arrangement with a garden/micro-farm in Venice. The flavors are complex and nuanced. The combinations are, for the most part, interesting and inspired. As you would expect, there are foams and droplets of sauce.

My favorite dish is the Chicken Liver Toast & Date Jam, a perfect amalgam of sweet and savory, creamy and crunchy. I’m also a big fan of Alma’s Seaweed & Tofu Beignets with Yuzu Kosho and Lime, as well as their unusual “onion salad” of Spring Alliums, Kumquats, Goat’s Milk, Turnips and Coffee Granola. For dessert, I recommend the Warm Rye Bread Pudding with Red Fruits, Almond Brittle and Frozen Yogurt. You can enjoy it all with an organic wine, craft beer or homemade soda.

Alma is located at 952 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (Downtown). UPDATE: ALMA IS NOW CLOSED. VERY SAD.