Consuming LA

December 28, 2016 · 12:20 pm

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2016

As we prepare to say so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to 2016, it’s time to look back at the LA gastronomic highlights of the year. If you haven’t tried all of these things, I’m sure they’ll still be around in 2017 for you to stuff in your pie hole. Here is my annual list of the ten best things I consumed and wrote about during the past year:

“Big Mec” Double Cheeseburger from Petit Trois

10. “Big Mec” Double Cheeseburger from Petit Trois. The “Big Mec” is the only burger to make my list this year. It has foie gras in it, so basically they’re not playing fair.

Maguro and Toro from Sasabune in Beverly Hills

9. Sushi from Sasabune in Beverly Hills. Sushi is an expensive habit. If you’re looking to save some money in the new year, don’t even try the insanely good and addictive sushi at Sasabune in Beverly Hills.

Bossam from Kobawoo House

8. Bossam from Kobawoo House. If you read this blog regularly, you knew there was going to be some awesome Korean food featured on this list. This is it.

Noorook from Baroo

7. Noorook from Baroo. There are a lot of o’s in the name of this vegetarian dish and also a lot of ingredients, including something called “Job’s Tears,” which I’ve never heard of before but am going to start eating regularly.

Hot Chicken from Howlin Ray’s

6. Hot Chicken from Howlin Ray’s. I know what you are saying: enough with the healthy stuff on this list. So, here’s some deep fried awesomeness.

Foie Gras Funnel Cake from Otium

5. Foie Groas Funnel Cake from Otium. This is what carnies eat when they’re trying to act all sophisticated.

Nona Elvira’s Lasagne Verde from Angelini Osteria

4. Nona Elvira’s Lasagne Verde from Angelini Osteria. This is the best lasagne ever. No exaggeration. It’s made with beef, veal and chopped chicken livers — each of the three major protein groups.

Garlic Cheese Bread from The Smoke House

3. Garlic Cheese Bread from the Smokehouse. I updated my best restaurant bread list this year, and guess who came out the winner again. Yes, it’s of a color that doesn’t exist in nature, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing garlicky, cheesy nirvana.

Butter and Salt Doughnut from Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee

2. Butter and Salt Doughnut from Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee. Is it “donut” or “doughnut”? I don’t know. Does it really matter? Go to Sidecar and prepare to be blown away.

Tempura Uni from Tempura Endo

1. Tempura Uni from Tempura Endo. I dare you to find anything better in this town to put in your mouth. It’s my favorite thing that I consumed and wrote about this year.

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La Dolce Vita

Things that I love from Italy include the films of Frederico Fellini, the art and architecture of the Renaissance, and a really good lasagna. Truth be told, if I had to pick just one, I would chose the lasagna over the other two.

The best lasagna I’ve consumed in LA is the one they serve at Angelini Osteria. It’s called Lasagna Verde “Omaggio Nonna Elvira” (English translation: Green Lasagne in tribute to Grandma Elvira) and it is spectacular. It is cheesy and meaty with ground beef and veal and chopped chicken livers, and it’s layered with spinach lasagna noodles and gloriously topped with a mound of crunchy fried spinach leaves.

Far from being a one trick pony, Angelini Osteria has many other awesome dishes as well, such as Uni Linguine, Lamb Chops Scottadito with Arugula, and Whole Mediterranean Branzino roasted in Sea Salt. Their bread basket with crispy Cracker Bread is one of my favorites in the city. Service is impeccable and the interior is bright, modern and cozy. Although with tables pushed so close to each other, don’t expect a lot of privacy. On the other hand, it’s perfect for making new friends.

Angelini Osteria is located at 7313 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles (in Mid-City).

Spaetzle Amuse Bouche

Uni Linguini

Ahi with Eggplant

Italian Chicken

Branzino

Grilled Lamb Chops allo Scottadito with Arugula Salad

Bread Basket

One of the best Italian restaurants in LA

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Filed under Mid-City

Tagged as angelini osteria, angelini osteria los angeles, angelini osteria restaurant, angelini osteria review, angelni osteria menu, best italian restaurants los angeles, lasagna verde, lasagne verde, nona elvira lasagna verde, nona elvira lasagne verde

November 7, 2016 · 12:26 pm

The Frying Game

Every so often a restaurant comes along that completely and utterly blows me away. Tempura Endo in Beverly Hills is such a place. The concept is simple: a twelve seat bar where Japanese master chefs serve omakase meals of the most amazing tempura you have ever consumed. This is not the kind of tempura most Americans are familiar with; it’s much lighter and less oily and utilizes the freshest high-end ingredients like uni, abalone and lobster tail. After being thinly coated with a special batter, the vegetables and seafood are deep fried in the highest rated tempura oil, producing crunchy, juicy morsels that orgasmically explode with flavor in your mouth.

The attention to detail at Tempura Endo is staggering. Each course is a work of art and, throughout your meal, you are severed on a variety of gorgeous ceramic plates and papers. You are given five kinds of salt — truffle, yuzu, sansho pepper, green tea and rice — and instructed which to use for dipping for each tempura item. For dessert, there is homemade yuzu sherbet, mochi wrapped in origami paper, and flower-shaped slices of candied sweet potato that are flambéed in front of you with Hennessy VS Cognac.

Such awesomeness does not come cheap. The least expensive fixed course meal will run you about $200 per person with tax and tip, but not including alcohol, and is worth every penny. Pricier omakase options include sashimi and Wagyu beef. If you want to experience tempura-induced nirvana without the crazy price tag, you can order a la carte after 9pm with a $50 minimum per person.

Tempura Endo is located at 9777 So. Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills.

Trio of appetizers

Endo Special Salad

Five kinds of salt!

Tempura Corn and Shrimp Toast

Tempura Corn

Tempura Lobster Tail

Tempura Uni

Tempura Snapper and Tempura Snap Pea

Tempura Scallop

Tempura Sesame Tofu

Ten-Don

Sashimi

Yuzu Sherbet and Green Tea Mochi

Flambéing Sweet Potato in Cognac

Flambéed Candied Sweet Potato

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Filed under Beverly Hills

Tagged as best tempura restaurant los angeles, endo beverly hills, kyoto-style tempura, tempura beverly hills, tempura endo, tempura endo beverly hills, Tempura Los Angeles

September 15, 2016 · 4:36 pm

The Most Annoying Thing Ever

Life is full of countless irritations, but the most annoying thing of all has to be when you’re standing in line and the person in front of you does not move up enough as the line progresses, leaving a huge gap between themselves and the person in front of them. It’s such a big gap that new people approaching the line are unsure where the line ends and mistakenly attempt to join the line at the gap. Such a slow-moving lollygagger should not be allowed to stand in lines, and certainly not the line at the new Halal Guys in Koreatown.

A popular fast food chain in NYC, The Halal Guys has been recently expanding across the country with its first LA outposts opening in Long Beach and Koreatown. The menu is simple: chicken shawarma, gyro or falafel on rice or wrapped in a pita, and served with The Halal Guys’ famous white sauce or hot sauce. There’s also hummus, tahini, fries, and, for dessert, sweet syrupy triangles of baklava.

Is it good? Yes, but not so good that I recommend standing in the long queues that form outside their doors everyday. The Halal Guys (at least the one in Koreatown) is definitely not long line-worthy.

The Halal Guys is located at 3432 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (in Koreatown) and 1804 Ximeno Ave in Long Beach.

Hummus

Chicken and Gyro Over Rice

Falafel Balls

Famous White Sauce

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[mappress mapid=”184″]

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Filed under Koreatown, Long Beach

Tagged as halal guys, halal guys koreatown, halal guys lines, halal guys long beach, halal guys los angeles, halal guys menu, halal guys white sauce, the halal guys

August 23, 2016 · 8:44 am

Please Pass the Foie Gras Funnel Cake

The Broad is a great new addition to the many world class art museums that we have here in Los Angeles. Built to showcase the collection of local philanthropist Eli Broad, it’s a wonderful place to spend a couple hours examining thought-provoking and stunning works of art by modern masters. Otium, which is adjacent to the Broad,is the museum’s perfect complement — a wonderful place to spend a couple hours consuming interesting, beautiful and incredibly delicious dishes prepared by a master chef.

The restaurant space itself is a work of art; modern yet elegant with a buzzing bar that mixes tasty cocktails like the “Charred Pineapple” with Aleppo Pepper, Bourbon and East India Sherry. In Otium’s giant open kitchen, Timothy Hollingsworth, former Chef de Cuisine at The French Laundry in Napa, and his staff assemble a spectacular array of small plates to share.

The most talked about dish here is the Foie Gras Funnel Cake (pictured above), a high/low amalgamation where a French delicacy meets a deep fried carnival treat and together make sweet, sweet love. Otium’s raw bar creations, including the Hiramasa with Romaine, Korean Chili and Shishito Soy, are also not to be missed. Other favorites of mine include the Spinach Fusilli with Egg, Bacon, Clam and Crème Fraîche and the Duck with Leeks, Apricot, Black Sesame and Cashews.

Otium is located at 222 So. Hope Street, Los Angeles.