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Archive for January, 2010

familydinner

Posted 30 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Arabic, Eating OUT, Hollywood, Marouch, Mediterranean, Uncategorized

There are not many great sit down arabic restaurants in LA. Maybe in the valley or Glendale, but those are both dead to me.

Some of my favorite Arabic restaurants I loved as a child, which surely none of you will remember, include Al-Amir, who baked their pita bread (or khubz arabiya) from scratch and had a pianist and a belly dancer on Saturday nights. Ha. I said pianist. They were also in the same building where Models, Inc. was filmed and E! Entertainment is now. They closed in 1998.

I also loved Annie’s as a child, an informal mom ‘n’ pop joint in Little Armenia where you could get a traditional arabic breakfast of Ful Muddamas (basically a bowl of beans, but better) on Sundays. Annie would instruct us to get our sodas ourselves out of the fridge in the back. Diet Coke and Sprite. Right next to the Preparation H. Maybe that’s why they’re closed.

One of the last few standing (of my favorites, at least) is Marouch. Marouch is one of those special places I’ve been enjoying with my family since I was God knows how small and cute. The owner, Serge, knows and respects my father and I, as a result, pretty much refuse to take dates there. If I have taken you there, that’s why I didn’t let you touch my leg during dinner.

To drink my mom had lemonade and my Dad and I each had an order or Araq, an anise-flavored alcoholic beverage that tastes like black licorice and puts the likes of tequila, gin, and scotch to shame. If you are not Arabic and you read about Marouch from say, Jonathan Gold, don’t ask for this. They will pretend they don’t know what you’re talking about and offer you beer or wine. Also, you will hate it anyway probably.

Since it was just the three of us and we often over-order, we skipped main courses and just ordered some meza (starters).

hummus:

baba ghanouj (or mtabal):

Special spicy salsa that Bob, our favorite waiter, always makes for us. My parents eat it with the kibbeh nayeh (raw meat—yikes):

Two favorite salads, tabbouleh and fatouch:

(By the way, that’s what tabbouleh should look like. If it’s got a ton of bulgar wheat in it and is equal parts white and green, you may be shopping at Trader Joe’s).

pickled turnips, hot peppers, olives and green onions:

fried kebbeh, which we refer to as “footballs,”–meat fried in cracked wheat.

At this point we would normally just be getting started since rice and meat would be on the way. We quit while we were ahead though, and ordered Arabic coffee to finish the meal. That’s Serge:

He was kind enough to surprise us with one of my favorite desserts, mahalabieh–rice pudding served with pistachios and rose water. you don’t know ’bout this!!!

Bob, if that is his real name, gave my mother some fresh camomile to make at home before bed time so she could sleep better post rotator cuff surgery.

Now that’s hospitality, one of the main things arabs are famous for, not counting terrorism and arranged marriage. See? We’re not so bad!

littleMbigLove

3 Comments

Posted 22 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Breakfast, Culver City, Eating OUT, Hollywood, M Cafe, dessert, vegetarian

Let’s play a game where we name the top three restaurants I visit most. If your lineup looks like this:

1.) M Cafe
2.) M Cafe
3.) M Cafe

or some variation thereof, you win. Your prize is not redeemable in the state where you live.

Last Friday I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite food homies (Sook and Sarah) and Vanessa from Wagstaff at M Cafe Culver City to talk, eat, and allow me the chance to prove I’ve already eaten everything on the menu.

What’s the big occasion?

We convened to discuss the Beverly Hills location launch of Little M.

Think about it–what’s your one gripe with M Cafe? It’s definitely not the food. It can’t be. But isn’t it just a smidge expensive sometimes?

Well M Cafe in Beverly Hills is debuting a new menu, not so different from the other two locations in terms of food options, but certainly more affordable and great for picking up food on the go.

We started off with some seasonal side salads, including lentils with radicchio, maple roasted veggies, and celery root remoulade.

We also had a variety of sushi (I stuck with the shitake avocado roll) –including spicy tuna, spicy shrimp, and fresh salmon.

Sushi and I had a showdown and I won:

Kinda scary, huh.

Some of the main courses we had:

The Gado Gado Salad–at Melrose it costs $11.45. In BH it’s $10.00

The Big Macro Burger–Melrose: $11.45. BH-$9.75 Both with one choice of side salad.

The Seitan Katsu Bowl, the Teriyaki Bowl with Black Cod and the Bi-Bim Bop (There is some variation of these bowls on the BH menu that runs a few bucks cheaper, especially if you get it sans fish):

The Panino Tuscano:

They have some different sandwich options in Beverly Hills–in general they run under $10 in price, whereas they are closer to $12 at the other locations.

BH also has some a la carte options (amen!) like BBQ Tempeh or Seared Tuna Tataki.

Sook is a hoarder and half way through the meal we discovered she was hanging on to more silverware than was really necessary:

Her bad behavior was rewarded like so:

and particularly like so:

Chocolate cake was a big, moist hit. Sarah hates the word “moist,” which is why I awkwardly injected it into that last sentence–because making your friends uncomfortable is funny.

You know what else is funny?

That after boxing the next morning with my friend Joy I ended up right back at the Melrose location for brekkie. There’s no shame in my game.

Scrambled tofu with tempeh bacon and sweet potato hash with grilled country bread:

Post-boxing knuckle sandwich:

Best blueberry pancakes with organic maple syrup and soy butter with tempeh bacon:

Both of those breakfast dishes are under $10 and were a good way to start the day.

If you are not familiar with macrobiotic cuisine, get with the program, specifically M Cafe’s program. It’s about energy and balance in your food and it makes you feel good when you eat it. Why else would I eat there every day? Besides the fact that it’s basically my office now.

secretingredient

4 Comments

Posted 21 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Cooking Crush, hot babe

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Odd choice, maybe.

morimoto

But I bet he’s a real tiger.

ladiesofleisure

7 Comments

Posted 19 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Eating IN, Eating OUT, Hollywood, Koreatown, dessert, vegetarian

A week ago, Sarah brought Sook and me with her to watch Chef Tal Ronnen do a vegan cooking demo at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena.

tal

He not only wrote an amazing vegan cookbook with a picture for every recipe, The Conscious Cook, but he also prepared all meals for Oprah’s vegan cleanse, did the food for Ellen DeGeneres’ vegan wedding and believes in vegan food as filling, satisfying and rich as a plate of meat and potatoes.

Would you ever think these dishes didn’t have chicken or cream?

photo-431

photo-432

Inspired by the demo, we went to Pure Luck for a vegan lunch. Also Sarah and Sook are nice friends and always make sure I can eat more than bibb lettuce wherever we go.

To drink we each had some sort of fizzy pomegranate soju thing. Wait, was it pomegranate? It looks like ginger. I don’t know.

Sarah, in my opinion made the wisest choice, and ordered the Quinoa Paloma salad, which is probably the main reason I would come back here.

I made the worst choice out of confusion and hunger and got the Cesar Salad with Tofu. It was ok.

Sook came in at a strong second by ordering the Fresh Noodle Salad with tofu, bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, and lime. She skipped the peanuts cause that’s not her style, yo.

Out of curiosity we split a side of order of jackfruit. Jackfruit is sometimes used as a vegetarian substitute for chicken and here’s why:

looks like shredded meat, right?

Afterward I peer pressured Sook into getting ice cream from Scoops since it was right across the street and, fuck it, if you’re gonna drink in the middle of the day you might as well have dessert, too.

By this point, I have no idea what we ordered. Let’s guess, shall we?

I think she had coconut oreo (vegan) and chocolate hazelnut (not vegan and possibly not hazelnut). I think I had pistachio rosewater (vegan and delicious in that old worldly harem sort of way) and almond cognac (vegan and possibly not cognac).

Clearly I need to either take notes, post sooner, or be a better liar.

Also, while it’s very exciting to finally have a camera, can I please, for the love of God, learn how to take a decent picture?? Shadow: heed this warning: you are not welcome here.

P.S. we noticed something about the cooking students at Le Cordon Bleu. Since when do you have to look like this to be a chef in training?

_Elaine-Davidson_most-pierced

noteveryonehatesvegans

3 Comments

Posted 18 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Eating OUT, Hollywood, Jitlada, Thai, Uncategorized, vegetarian

Last week Billy and I went to Jitlada since he’d never been and I haven’t been since my foray into veganism. Once we were there I asked to see Jazz so I could tell her I loved her/didn’t know what I could eat on the menu.

In no way did she shame me or make me feel like a bad doggie for being vegan. She helped us pick our dishes and assured me she’d be cooking my food herself.

Typically as a vegan making special requests I feel like a special pest. Jazz made me feel like a special guest! yeah that’s right I’m a poet and I don’t even know it.

Jazz ordered me to have the plum wine and I do not turn down orders to drink mysterious alcohols. Future dates, beware.

Billy had a coke. Snore.

Then he had the mussels, per Jazz’s recommendation. If I remember correctly he said these were the best mussels he’d ever eaten.

Also the spiciest sauce. Ha.

She also recommended the beef for him, and I so wish I remembered exactly what this dish is called. If you’re there, ask for the beef featured on the Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate. I think this is it. My best guess is that it’s called Crying Beef. Vegans no likey this name cause they take it literally.

Now on to what I ate, cause seriously, whoa, so good. Jazz, I know it’s not the first time you’ve heard this nor will it be the last but I LOVE you. LOVE LOVE. BIG LOVE.

She whipped up some Thai green curry with carrots, broccoli, bamboo shoots, coconut milk, peas, tomatillos, and tofu.

Underneath the veggies were big soft flat noodles.

And finally, what was possibly the most delicious Thai dish I’ve ever had at Jitlada (aka anywhere), even dating back to my meat-eating days, Jazz brought out deep-fried tofu with beautiful crispy basil. Since these “vegan” dishes aren’t exactly on the menu, I’m doing a terrible job recalling the ingredients or giving them a proper name. I believe this particular dish is normally made with shrimp rather than tofu.

Would really strict vegans be ok eating here? I’m not sure. I imagine there is residue of fish sauce in the pans, but I’m not really strict enough (yet) for this to bother me.

Jazz was so hospitable and so accommodating I felt right at home. Except at home I have to pretend I’m not vegan cause it annoys my parents. Jazz, you want a big, 28-year old, food-blogging, unemployed baby? No? It’s ok, I’ll be back anyway.

westsideconnection

6 Comments

Posted 06 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Eating OUT, West LA, vegetarian

On Monday I knew I’d be on the Westside around lunch time,

westside

so I reached out to twitter homies for vegan restaurant recommendations.

I got lots of good feedback but Diana of DianaTakesaBite just about pounced in response with a recommendation not just for a restaurant but for a specific meal there. Challenge accepted.

She suggested I add Blackened Tempeh to the Ensalada Azteca at Native Foods in Westwood, and that’s exactly what I did.

Fresh avocado, jicama, mango salsa, currants, organic quinoa, toasted pumpkin seeds, and cilantro. Mango lime vinaigrette. Holy Shit.

The best part? Just about every ingredient they use is made there, except, I think, for their gardein brand “chicken.” The tempeh was nutty and hearty and the salad was exactly what I want to eat for lunch every day for the rest of my life. Who says variety is the spice of life? Not me.

I’m not gonna lie–I hate Westwood. I’m not sure if it’s the memories of hangin’ with OPM in 7th grade outside the arcade or if it’s just the massive amounts of co-eds and medical staff and limited parking that send me into panicky hysterics. Native Foods is worth working it out though. Big time.

P.S. Extra points if you can guess what OPM stands for. I’ll give you a hint. It’s the Original Persian Mafia. Shit, I blew it.

sofarsogood

2 Comments

Posted 05 Jan 2010 — by lolo
Category Breakfast, Eating OUT, Hollywood, Newsroom, Umami, West LA, vegetarian

I’m starting this year off right, with the new camera my sister gave me for Christmas. Finally you might be able to see all the tofu you hate me for eating. Here’s a recap of this year so far:

After apparently looking possessed on New Years Eve

Joanna, Brent, and Brent’s brother Bryan invited me to the Laker game.

Bryan went to the game dressed like this:

Once he took his fur snuggie off, he was able maneuver his way to the fridge and leave a path of beverage destruction:

Speaking of path of destruction, it’s funny when the Lakers trick another team into thinking they might win and then steal all the glory in the last 3 seconds. Kobe, you silly!

The next morning my sister and I had breakfast at Newsroom on Robertson, where it took all my willpower not to order my favorite grilled veggie salad at 9am.

She had 4 pancakes disguised as one:

very sneaky:

I had Monja’s tofu scramble with spinach, caramelized onions, and broken vegan sausage bits:

For vegans, I like their lunch options better than their breakfast ones. Mine was really good, but I wasn’t that excited about ordering it.

It left me full until dinner time, which again, I spent with my sister. Duh.

Michelle, Tracy and I went to the Umami Burger at Space 1520 in Hollywood…

I wish I had tried this before I went vegan. Because if you order a veggie burger here it’s just not the same.

Tracy’s Umami Burger doesn’t look that exciting thanks to me not making him cut it in half. But he swears it’s the best burger he’s ever had.

I got a veggie burger, no bun, since the bun isn’t vegan.

My sister did too. She was pissed when it came and it was a basically a mushroom shaped like you know what. Until she ate it and realized it was actually a really good mushroom.

Good thing we also ordered a market salad with almonds and beets that look deceivingly like ahi tuna, onion rings and sweet potato french fries:

The sweet potato fries tasted like tiny, southern, cinnamon-y churros. The onion rings were the mushroom’s redemption song in my sister’s heart and mind.

After dinner we geared up to watch ~~The Story of the US invasion of Iraq~~ Avatar.