3.0 miles, about 10 minutes from my home in Atwater Village.

A new kind of sausage has arrived to Los Angeles: Berlin-style currywurst.  Something new, and oh-so-different to the always evolving culinary scene in Los Angeles.  Currywurst is German street food that has been around for at least sixty years.  Considered the number one street food in Germany, currywurst vendors can be found on street corners throughout the country, and most definitely in Berlin.  As Los Angeles has the bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors waiting outside bars and nightclubs to feed hungry late night hipsters, Berlin has its currywurst stands.  Many of which have become neighborhood meeting points.

Such is the case with Berlin Currywurst located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.  Not a food stand but a brick and mortar shop; small in size with a few tables outside, it is sandwiched between an artisan gelato shop and a bead store.  The food is simple yet immensely satisfying.  Big on flavor, it’s a mix-and-match menu.  The reason it’s called currywurst is due to the red curry flavored tomato sauce that each plate of wursts is served under.  Pick your wurst (brat, bock, rinds and so on), pick your level of heat for the sauce (1 to 4), add a flavoring (garlic, chipotle, jambalaya), and fritten (French fries) if you wish, and you’re set.  If beef, veal and pork are not in your diet they offer chicken and tofu wursts.  Each plate of sausages is served with German farmers bread.  Berlin Currywurst uses all-natural meat, the made-on-the-premises sauce contains organic ingredients only, and the fries are made with hand cut, organic potatoes.

Opened in February 2011 by husband and wife team Lena and Hardeep Manak along with partner Haike Buentemeyer, Berlin Currywurst already has a dedicated following.  A recent lunch of Paprikawurst (all natural pork with paprika and garlic), heat level 1, garlic flavoring, and fritten with onions was so satisfying that I can’t wait to go again.

Berlin Currywurst, 3827 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA  90026, 323-663-1989, www.berlincurrywurst.com

**A version of this article was first published in Honest Cooking, April 14, 2011.

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My first story was published on April 14, 2011: “Berlin Currywurst Arrives to L.A.” I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – A Menu of Parisian Bistro Classics at Le Saint Amour, Culver City, CA.  Consulting chef Walter Manzke offers a different Parisian bistro dish every night of the week (Sunday is Poulet Frit for example) at Le Saint Amour.  If you like classic French food like I do then get thee to Le Saint Amour for a plat du jour, or for something delicious off their full menu.  Bon appétit!

#3 – Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17, 2011, 11 am – 8 pm (Sat.), 11 am – 7 pm (Sun.) ~ Artisanal L.A. where nearly 100 local, artisanal and handmade vendors showcase their wares.  Support your local crafts persons, vendors and businesses.

#4 – Saturday, April 23, 11 am – 6 pm ~ The 2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational, a grilled cheese cooking competition.  You cook.  Judges vote.  Everybody wins!

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans.

Moules Marinière from Le Saint Amour.

Is there an uptick in the number of French restaurants in Los Angeles?  I certainly hope so.  French food = comfort food.  At least in the case of Le Saint Amour in Culver City.  I haven’t kept track, and I don’t really know actual figures but it seems to me that there are more and more French restaurants opening in Los Angeles.  And that’s a good thing.  We’ve been so Italian for so long that I’m ready for the return of France.  The best recent example of this was my weekend visit to the very French Le Saint Amour, a Culver City restaurant that has been open for a year and a half.

Escargots de Bourgogne from Le Saint Amour.

French Restaurants in Los Angeles, (San Francisco and New York)

But before I go there, a bit more on French restaurants in Los Angeles, (San Francisco and New York too).  I just checked on Open Table and seventy-four French restaurants came up in a search for Los Angeles and Orange counties.  A quick cursory glance and I’d remove a number of them because they’re not truly French.  A secondary search of West Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Mid-Wilshire and the Westside gave me thirty-five results.  For those same neighborhoods seventy-three results pop up for Italian.

Not scientific in the least.  The reason I say there seem to be more French places: Le Saint Amour, Petrossian, Fraîche Culver City (French chef Benjamin Bially), RESTAURANT at the Sunset Marquis (French chef Guillaume Burlion), Church & State, Comme Ça, Bistro LQ (French chef Laurent Quenioux), RH at the Andaz (French chef Pierre Gomes), to name a few and not naming the many that have French influenced menus, or American chefs that lean towards cooking French food.  And then there’s Ludo!  French chef Ludovic Lefebvre who cooks French in a way no one has before at his pop up restaurants, Ludo Bites.  Café Stella is my favorite neighborhood bistro.  Sitting on the outdoor patio feels like being on a back street of Paris.

San Francisco has always been more equitable when it comes to French versus Italian, or maybe it’s just their natural hybridization of French food — it simply appears as part of the menu on so many Bay Area restaurants.  They naturally cook French.  They operate their restaurants in the French brasserie/bistro/café way.  I’m not sure if Zuni still does it but in my Zuni eating days (’80s to ’90s) they had an oyster station outside on Market Street, complete with shucker and all.  So very Parisian.  New York is the most welcoming to French food and French chefs.  Mostly, I’d venture to say, due to its size and numbers: a huge city, millions of mouths to feed.  All cuisines get good coverage there.  I’ve always felt that Los Angeles was slighted when it came to French restaurants.  They’re here, they exist but not in the ways they do in San Francisco and New York.

Les Frites from Le Saint Amour.

Le Saint Amour

Over this past weekend Robert and I were returning from a great day with food blogger friend Sean Sullivan (of Spectacularly Delicious)* who was in town from New York.  We’d dropped Sean off at his hotel, and were on the 10 Freeway going home and desperately needed gas.  Off at Robertson Boulevard and suddenly we were in Culver City.  Hunger.  Parked and walked along Culver Boulevard.  I wanted to find Le Saint Amour as I’d heard about it.  We popped in around six forty-five and a kindly French woman promptly sat us.  I assume this was Madame Herve-Commereuc.  The place felt so French.  Café.  Bistro.  Brass, lace curtains, French café chairs, art deco advertising posters on the wall.  The very French waiter sealed the deal.  Heavy French accent, no name (thank God), available not intrusive.  I knew I was in a French restaurant when I ordered my Steak Frites and he simply said “medium-rare?” as if there was simply no other option.  The food was quite good, straight forward, traditional French café/bistro fare.  It was just what I wanted.

Owned by Florence and Bruno Herve-Commereuc they recently hired chef Walter Manzke to revamp the menu.  Chef Manzke introduced a Plats du Jour menu, a different special each night of the week.  These are truly French dishes.  The night we were in it was Bouillabaisse.  Other current dishes include Choux Farci, Bourride Provenςale, and Filet Mignon Bordelaise. Monsieur Herve-Commereuc is a master charcutier and makes house-made charcuterie, and terrines.  Oysters, onion soup, escargots, bone marrow are among the many typical French dishes on the regular menu.  If I lived in Paris, this is the kind of neighborhood place that would be a second home.  I’d pop in on my way home from work, or for a morning café. I wish it was in my Atwater Village neighborhood so I could.

Now then: All you Los Angeles-based French chefs, put the word out to your French brethren to hie their way across the Pond, and our vast continent to our sunny Southern California shores.  We need more French restaurants in Los Angeles.  And for the rest of you Angeleno readers: Are there more French restaurants opening in Los Angeles?

Bon appétit!

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – A Menu of Parisian Bistro Classics at Le Saint Amour, Culver City, CA.  Consulting chef Walter Manzke offers a different Parisian bistro dish every night of the week (Sunday is Poulet Frit for example) at Le Saint Amour.  If you like classic French food like I do then get thee to Le Saint Amour for a plat du jour, or for something delicious off their full menu.  Bon appétit!

#2 – Thursday, March 31, 2011, 6 pm – 10 pm ~ Mo Chica’s 18th Tasting Dinner – 6 Courses for Japan Relief at Mo-Chica, Los Angeles, CA. Help raise money for Japan disaster relief.  Special tasting menu by chef Ricardo Zarate.  Details here.

#3 – Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17, 2011, 11 am – 8 pm (Sat.), 11 am – 7 pm (Sun.) ~ Artisanal L.A. where nearly 100 local, artisanal and handmade vendors showcase their wares.  Support your local crafts persons, vendors and businesses.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the last of the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens, fennel.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe “Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya” was selected to be in the cookbook: “Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.”  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  *A post on New York food blogger Sean Sullivan of Spectacularly Delicious.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Southern My Way by Gena Fox; Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig; Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans; Maida Heatter’s Cakes, and Maida Heatter’s Cookies by Maida Heatter.

.8 miles, about 3 minutes (driving), or about 16 minutes (walking), from my home in Atwater Village.

Small, medium or large.  Or maybe it’s just medium and large.  I can’t remember exactly.  The point is they’re not some kind of faux-Italian words made up for coffee sizes.  Very old-fashioned but Kaldi Coffee & Tea is a throw back coffee place.  They roast their own coffee, and it’s good coffee.  You can buy it in bulk, or order it there.  The choices seemingly endless on the very large chalk board.  And if you want tea there’s a really great selection to choose from.

Kaldi sits smack dab in the middle of my neighborhood, Atwater Village, the few blocks that run just east of the 5 Freeway and Silver Lake almost to San Fernando Road.  It’s in the middle of a mish-mash of businesses that are constantly changing, (when the casket shop closed two doors down a marijuana dispensary — I think that’s what it was — opened, it lasted about six to eight months.  The gift shop right next door where I bought several Christmas and birthday gifts recently shuttered, now both businesses sit empty).  There’s a bookstore, a few hair salons, two liquor stores, several restaurants, a Starbucks, a wine shop, a pizza place, a Bikram yoga studio all close at hand that along with Kaldi make up the “village” part of Atwater Village.

I like Kaldi for obvious reasons; it’s a small, localized business, they roast their own coffee, they offer something to the community.  The coffee is stellar and the counter guys are super friendly.  Most every time I stop in every table is taken — granted it’s library-quiet because everyone is on a laptop, some with ear buds firmly planted.  That’s okay, it’s place to go, a refuge for folks in the neighborhood.  Often when I’m working at home, and need a break, I’ll walk over for an afternoon coffee.  Robert and I frequently eat at one of the restaurants along the boulevard, and if we time it right we make it to Kaldi just before they close to grab an end-of-day brownie or cookie that are sold at half-price just before closing.

Kaldi Coffee & Tea, 3147 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039, (323) 660-6005

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

Update: A follow up to my post on Graham Kerr ~ his new book “Growing at the Speed of Life,” all about starting his first kitchen garden, was published on March 1, 2011 if you’d like to learn more about what he’s been up to lately.

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Sunday, March 6, 2011 ~ 7th Annual Cassoulet Night ~ Lucques Restaurant, 8474 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  323-655-6277 ~ http://www.lucques.com/

#2 – Monday, March 14, 2011 – Blood, Bones and Butter ~ A Dinner in Honor of the Publication of Prune Chef, Gabrielle Hamilton’s First Book ~ Lucques Restaurant, 8474 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  323-655-6277 ~ http://www.lucques.com/

My Status: Still enjoying winter in So Cal and the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens, beets and fennel.  Trying to bone up my citrus knowledge so bought a pomelo and some Sumo mandarins (aka the Dekopan in Japan), a new crossbreed of citrus recently introduced to the U.S.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe “Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya” was selected to be in the cookbook: “Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.”  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports coming soon. Cookbook Reviews: “The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook” by Rachel Saunders, “Grilled Cheese, Please! by Laura Werlin, and Southern My Way by Gena Fox.

2.3 miles, about 7 minutes from my home in Atwater Village.

Hungry!  Need.  Food.  Now.  There are times when eating becomes the thing I have to do before anything else.  Knowing of close-to-home restaurants is of paramount importance to me.  Luckily, there’s a plethora of places in my Atwater Village-Silver Lake neighborhood to choose from.  Gingergrass is one.  I know that I can drive over and if it’s early enough, get a table and have food in front of me within forty minutes.  If it’s later and the place is full, I can call an order in and pick it up.  There’s value in both of these.

The sign in front of Gingergrass, and the menu itself, has these words: “Fresh Vietnamese Cuisine,” and in my experience this is absolutely true.  I’ve been eating at Gingergrass for years now and have never had a bad meal.  The food always tastes fresh and clean.  The dishes are full of interesting, bright flavors.  The menu is varied enough to never get boring.  Executive Chef Mikel Mark Kim knows his way around a Vietnamese menu while also using local, sustainable, organic, and free-range ingredients: very good things that up the quality and flavor of his food.

Some favorite dishes include: Bò Saté, Pork Chops, “Gingergrass” Fresh Rolls, Shaking Beef, Coconut Curry Cod, and the Basil-Lime Elixir.  I also check the huge chalkboard that lists daily specials, as well as wine and beer, and desserts.  I’m not a big phó eater but I see a lot of people eating it whenever I go.  The crowds that are always there are a testament to the very affordable prices.  Gingergrass keeps amazing hours too: they’re open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, and Thursdays through Saturdays they stay open until 11 p.m. (that’s late for most any Los Angeles neighborhood).

Gingergrass is a true neighborhood gem, a place I can happily rely on to feed me quick — or slow — depending on my needs.

Gingergrass we love you!

Love, 100 Miles

P.S. ~ I just noticed that Jonathan Gold of the L.A. Weekly named Gingergrass as one of “99 Essential Restaurants” which I was unaware of.  Very nice!  I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for him next time I go in.

Gingergrass, 2369 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90039, 323-644-1600, http://www.gingergrass.com

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1  – The Good Neighbor Cookbook – consider submitting your, or somebody else’s, good-neighbor story to the Meet This Grateful Recipient or Meet This Good Neighbor Cook features on The Good Neighbor Cookbook blog by e-mailing authors Sara Quessenbery and Suzanne Schlosberg at: cooks@thegoodneighborcookbook.com. Let us know if you do by leaving a comment below!

My Status:  Still enjoying winter in So Cal and the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe “Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya” was selected to be in the cookbook: “Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.”  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. Cookbook Reviews: “The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook” by Rachel Saunders, and “Italy Dish by Dish: A Comprehensive Guide to Eating in Italy” by Monica Sartoni Cesari.

.2 miles, about 59 seconds by car, or 5 minutes on foot from my home in Atwater Village.

In many places in the world a bakery is often the nexus of a neighborhood.  A place where the locals meet to buy baked goods and bread.  Bread, the so-called ’staff of life,’ is inexpensive nourishment to many people.  Slowly but surely The Village Bakery and Cafe has become the nexus of our Atwater Village neighborhood.  Much like their sisters in Europe, it has a walk up counter with a shelf of various types of bread behind.  When I go in and see the stacks of freshly baked baguettes it feels a bit like it did when I bought the daily loaf while living in France.  The difference here is you can also order coffee, a house-made pastry, breakfast or lunch, then sit and WiFi it up for as long as you want.   Since it’s located very close to the horse stables and riding schools along the Los Angeles River, I’ve seen more than a patron or two wearing English riding boots and jodphurs as well as the occasional cowboy boots.  A bit of local neighborhood color.

Owner Barbara Monderine had a successful career in the music business before becoming a baker and founding co-owner of Auntie Em’s Kitchen in Eagle Rock.  From there she left to buy the Villa Rosa Italian Bakery, a wholesale bakery located in Arcadia, California.  At Villa Rosa she perfected a line of Italian cookies and pastries including an old Sicilian cannoli shell recipe that she inherited from the previous Villa Rosa owners.  She now sells the cannoli shells wholesale along with other baked goods from The Village Bakery and Cafe.

The Village Bakery and Cafe prides itself on selling artisanal breads baked daily, as well as pastries, pies and other desserts made from all natural ingredients.  The menu items are made using fresh, farmers’ market fruits and vegetables.  One of my favorite dishes is the individual chicken pot pies.  When I see them in the case I buy several to take home and freeze.  Voila, a simple meal after thirty minutes in the oven.  I often go to grab coffee and a sweet, for brunch or a quick lunch, or to buy a loaf of the amazing bread.

It seems I am not the only person to favor The Village Bakery and Cafe; while reading up to write this post I noticed on the bakery’s Facebook page this comment:  ‘The Grey’s Anatomy writing staff LOVES The Village!’  I’m going to have to take a closer look at all those people staring at computer screens next time I go in.  I didn’t know the place had gone Hollywood.

The Village Bakery and Cafe, 3119 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90039, 323-662-8600 & http://www.thevillagebakeryandcafe.com/

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the Food World:

#1 – Thursday, February 3, 2011, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. ~ A Tasting Dinner at Mo-Chica with Live Music by Chachaca Nova – acclaimed Los Angeles Peruvian restaurant holds its 17th tasting dinner with music by the bossa nova group Chachaca Nova featuring our very own food blogger Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet LA on saxophone!  Cost $40.  Make reservations at Mo-Chica ~ http://mo-chica.com/

#2 – Mini-Review: A shout out to a recent cookbook I received ~ ‘Everday Grilling: 50 Recipes from Appetizers to Desserst’ by Sur La Table.  Grilling tips and recipes for first courses to desserts all (or part of the recipe) cooked on the grill.  Grilled Quesadillas.  Endless ways to grill vegetables.  Grilled Pizza (!)  Grilled Pound Cake (!?)

My Status: Enjoying winter in So Cal and the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective. Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, and Italy Dish by Dish: A Comprehensive Guide to Eating in Italy by Monica Sartoni Cesari.

.8 miles, about 4 minutes from my home in Atwater Village.

There are many things I miss about living in Manhattan — mostly the choice of places to eat, and ways of feeding oneself.  Whether it be Chinese take out, a stop at Dean & Deluca on the way home from work, or a simple walk in the neighborhood where there are dozens of possibilities, eating in New York was much easier than doing so in Los Angeles.  For me, deciding what to eat after a long day at work is often problematic.  Usually being too tired to cook a meal I’m stuck looking for something to pick up and take home.  Thankfully there are several choices in my Atwater Village neighborhood that I can walk to, or stop at on my way home.  Viet Noodle Bar is one such place.  Robert and I eat there often.

The menu is as simple as the exterior (see picture above) and that is fine.  As with many Asian food restaurants menu items are numbered, and in this case there 95 items including ‘Beer & Sake.’  You’ll find all the usual Vietnamese food choices you’ve come to expect; the menu is divided into these sections: ‘Roll,’ ‘Salad,’ ‘Noodle Soup,’ ‘Noodle Dish,’ ‘Rice Plate,’ ‘Vietnamese Sandwich,’ ‘Drinks,’ ‘Beer & Sake.’ Admittedly, I tend to go for the same items in a place I frequent, and I usually order # 27 – ‘Sesame Beef Noodle’ (red leaf lettuce, flat noodle, peanut sauce) from the ‘Noodle Dish’ section.  Robert seems to like #43 – ‘Lemongrass Organic Chicken’ (cilantro, daikon, carrot, green onion) from the ‘Vietnamese Sandwich’ section.

The food is simple, the flavors clean and direct.  They are not breaking any new culinary ground here and that is fine.  There is nothing on the menu priced over $9.25.  I like that it is local, in the neighborhood, and that I know what I’m getting.  That is very soothing, and it seems to work well for the people of Atwater Village based on the crowds always in the place.

Viet Noodle Bar, 3133 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA  90039, 323-906-1575 & (no website)

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

Shout Out! (Los Angeles)

Michael McCarty, owner of Michael’s Santa Monica, and Michael’s New York has started ‘Michael’s Market Meetups’ one Wednesday of each month.  Join him at his Santa Monica restaurant then go with him as he takes you on a tour of the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market.  After the tour he’ll cook you a dish back at his restaurant.  Read about it here, or on the restaurant website ~ http://www.michaelssantamonica.com/.

My Status:  Fall slowing moving toward winter.  We still have lovely warm days but the temps drop at night.  Time for winter-cold weather cooking.  Maybe something from Julia Child, or Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook ‘Around My French Table.’

News! I’m published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.  I am thrilled.

Upcoming Posts: a write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, and Bon Appétit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild.

Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly: Recipes from Southern Appalachia.  Joan E. Aller.  Andrews McMeel Publishing.  $27.99.  (224p)  ISBN: 978-0-7407-7958-9

My mother gets very upset with me when I call our family ‘white trash.’  Despite her protestations I think her side of the family is as white trash as my father’s side.  And I know he was white trash.  He called himself white trash with pride.  He and his four siblings were born in Oklaholma City and lived their early years in poverty.  Life improved slowly once my grandmother brought her brood much like The Grapes of Wrath out to California in 1940.  But the white trash qualities never did quite disappear.  I follow in his footsteps and proudly identify as white trash myself.  You’d think with that background I’d be more familiar with southern cooking but my parent’s divorce left me living with my mother and her family who were more northern in heritage.  My mother does talk about the food my father’s mother used to make: navy beans and ham hocks, collard greens in bacon fat, and cornbread.  Food I didn’t eat much of growing up.

As I made my way through Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly I was reminded of my paternal grandmother and the food I knew she cooked.  Southern Appalachia and the people who live there are in kind to where my father came from, to the food and customs.  Distant eastern cousins I’d venture to say.  I found this book comforting in many ways.  It is not a book of high cuisine; in fact I think I can correctly say it’s all about low cuisine and that’s a good thing.  Author, Joan E. Aller, a transplant to southern Appalachia fell in love with the place once she was there.  Wanting to preserve a lifestyle that she saw quickly changing she set about collecting the best recipes southern Appalachia had to offer by traveling around the area and gathering up recipes, stories and histories from the area’s inns, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, taverns and cafes.  The book is a lovely compendium of the simple yet hearty and heartwarming food of the region.  Full of beautiful color photography and a written history of the region, this is a book to pick up and read often.  Dishes like ‘High Country Breakfast Casserole’ served at The Buffalo Tavern Bed and Breakfast to ‘Appalachian Cider Beans’ (a personal favorite) come with an explanation, a story, before the recipe begins.  To wit cider beans are traditionally served at the local gas station which become de facto social centers.  Locals gather at the closest gas station, eat, and catch up on area news.

The recipes I tested all worked just fine; they were straight-forward and easy to make.  A few of my favorite dishes were the ‘Pork Chops Southern-Style,’ ‘Corn Pone, Tennessee-Style,’ ‘Grilled Okra with Pine Nuts’ and the ‘Appalachian Cider Beans.’  A fun chapter in the book is ‘Beverages’ where recipes for ‘Southern Sweet Tea,’ ‘Mammy Williams’s Dandelion Wine’ and ‘Southern Milk Punch’ (vanilla ice cream and bourbon!) can be found.  The final chapter is ‘Country Store’ and has recipes for pickles, relishes, jellies and jams.  A whole lot of good southern cooking is delightfully packed into the pages of Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly. If you are looking for some good southern comfort food grab this book and start cooking.  You won’t be disappointed.

Shout Outs! Fun, Cool, Interesting, Worthy Things Going on Around Town…

Magnolia Bakery (Los Angeles) ~ Purchase a Pink Ribbon Cupcake, (or several!) from Magnolia Bakery during the month of October.  Proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.  www.magnoliabakery.com

Los Angeles Magazine ~ The Food Event: From the Vine 2010 ~ Sunday, October 24, 2010, 1 pm to 4 pm, Saddlerock Ranch, Malibu, California.  The 5th annual culinary extravaganza hosted by Los Angeles Magazine featuring celebrity chefs, top restaurants and wine tasting.  I’ll be there.  Hope to see you.  www.losangelesmagazine/thefoodevent

Artisanal L.A. ~ A weekend of shopping, tasting, workshops, and hanging out with local artisans.  A celebration of L.A.’s finest local handmade artisanal edibles.  October 23 & 24, 11 am to 4 pm.   I’ll be there (Saturday, 10/23), will you?  http://artisanalla.com/

Out of the Box Collective (Los Angeles) ~ A brand new business that home-delivers boxes of local, sustainably produced groceries.  The food items used in the boxes are sourced from artisans and farmers in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.  Boxes contain meat, dairy, produce, bread, conserves, and regional specialties.  They have a Thanksgiving Feast Box available for the upcoming holiday that will supply you with all the ingredients and a few suggested recipes if you don’t have the time to shop but still want to cook.  Come check them out the Artisan L.A. event on 10/23 & 24 (see above for info).  www.outoftheboxcollective.com

My Status:  Fall weather has arrived to SoCal.  Cool, wet even rainy.  More cooking, eating and blogging on the horizon as always.

News! I am now published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices,’ published on October 19, 2010.  You may pre-order it here.  I am thrilled.

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews ~Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 65 Years of Recipes from Atlanta’s Favorite Dining Room by John Ferrell; The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders.

Summer – in all its ferocious intensity – has arrived to Los Angeles.  After a very cool July, August is suddenly hitting triple digits.  With the heat arrives a malaise and inability, or is it an unwillingness, to do much of anything.  ‘Dog days’ are described by the Google dictionary as: 1.  The hottest period of the year (reckoned in antiquity from the helical rising of Sirius, the Dog Star), and 2.  A period of inactivity or sluggishness.’  Number 2 sums up my current mood perfectly.  Summer is drawing to a close, it’s bloody hot, and I don’t want to do anything.  So this will be short and to the point.

A few of my recent foodie adventures…

Waterbar, San Francisco, right under the Bay Bridge. Owned by Chef Mark Franz.

San Francisco

Last week I spent a few days in San Francisco — my old food stomping grounds — with my friend, Chef Jeremiah Tower and a mutual friend, Chef Mark Franz.  Mark owns three successful restaurants in the bay Area:  Farallon, Waterbar and Nick’s Cove, and he hosted a few of us for two amazing meals: one at Farallon that included a huge tin of caviar, a whole turbot with hollandaise sauce and a plateau of oysters.  At Waterbar he served more amazing oysters (never enough oysters), ravioli stuffed with shrimp, grilled crab, and a roast beef.  Amazing!  Now here’s the problem:  I bought a brand new camera just before the trip, and I didn’t have enough time to learn how to use it.  Most of the pictures I took turned out horrible.  So, sadly, I don’t have photos of the amazing food Mark made for us.  In addition to Mark’s meals I ate at Zuni Café (always good!) and a newer, very popular place called Flour + Water — incredible pastas!  If you are in the City go there for their pasta dishes.

Handmade pasta stuffed with shrimp at Waterbar (not Flour + Water).

Open kitchen at Waterbar.

Cookbook Sale

As many of my readers and friends know I am a fiend for cookbooks and have been amassing a nice collection (see the tab at top of the blog for the current list).  So when I read in Squid Ink (L.A. Weekly) that the Southern California Culinary Historians were having a cookbook sale at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market this past Sunday I forced myself out of bed at 7:00 a.m. so I could be there by 8:00 a.m.  There was already a crowd when I arrived, and I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time.  I quickly worked my way through peering in boxes of books piled haphazardly, and if I saw something that piqued my interest I grabbed it — all books were $3.00.  I often shop for the writer as much as the book.  If I see a book by a writer I know and admire I’ll buy it.  I snatched up ‘Feasts for All Seasons’ (1966) by Roy Andries de Groot — one of the very early food writers, and a name I’ve known for years.  ‘Food with the Famous’ (1979) by Jane Grigson — a very well-known British food writer, and mother to Sophie Grigson, a well-known chef and food writer in her own right.  Lastly, ‘Art of Good Eating’ (1961) by Paula Peck — not because I know her, because I liked the title and the look of the book.  Three books, $9.00, a little farmers’ market shopping and back on the road by 8:45 a.m.

Street Food Mondays

Bill Esparza (Street Gourmet LA) has teamed up with Evan Kleiman of Angeli Caffe and Good Food on KCRW fame, and on the occasional Monday they co-host a ’street food Monday’ at Evan’s restaurant Angeli Caffe.  The first one was Ricky’s Fish Tacos (I was unable to attend) but this past Monday it was Sri Lankan food by the cooks/owners of the now closed Priyani Café.  I’d never had Sri Lankan food and didn’t really know what to expect — I’d heard that they like it extremely hot.  This wasn’t terribly spicy (thankfully) but it was really good, and very interesting.  Some of my favorite dishes were the hoppers — thin fermented pancakes with a soft bowl shape that held other ingredients like chicken, eggs, and a really wonderful spicy coconut condiment that we all kept spooning over everything.  I would eat this food again.  We were a table of about ten and we had a very lively if raucous time.

String Hoppers ~ rice noodle patties with sime, a spicy condiment.

Egg Hopper ~ thin fermented pancake with choice of sime sambal or a curry.

Plain Hopper ~ thin fermented pancake with a choice of sime sambal or a curry.

That’s it for now.  A quick-ish update during triple digit temperatures.  Off to Seattle for the International Food Bloggers’ Conference on Friday, back on Monday.  Temperatures in Seattle ~ highs of 75F, lows of 65F — perfect.  See you next week for more food fun.

My Status: As you read above that cool summer L.A. was experiencing is OVER.  Waiting out the heat, eating, cooking, restaurant-ing, blogging and writing.  Going to the IFBC in Seattle this weekend with friends Jo Stougaard of My Last Bite and Phil Nigash of My Life as a Foodie (it’s Phil’s first time!) (see below), and a trip to Sonoma County in September: returning to Zazu & Bovolo…

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews ~ Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller; Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 65 Years of Recipes from Atlanta’s Favorite Dining Room by John Ferrell.

Hey, Los Angeles foodies, or any other foodies, and readers, for that matter.  Does that picture look at all familiar?  Were you living in Los Angeles during the ’80s?  Do you remember these restaurants: City Restaurant, Spago (on Sunset), Restaurant Muse, Morton’s, Chasen’s, Citrus, Ma Maison, 385 North, West Beach Café, 72 Market?

During the ’80s and part of the ’90s the Marlboro Man sat so close to the intersection of Sunset and Crescent Heights, he could have spit and hit the middle of it.  This billboard was on the Sunset Strip right below the Chateau Marmont.  It sat there for years hawking Marlboro cigarettes.  I always found it oddly fascinating.  I don’t smoke now, didn’t then.  It wasn’t about cigarettes.  It was something iconic.  He came to symbolize Los Angeles to me.  He sat at the entrance to the legendary Sunset Strip.  A place where magic happened.

Looking west down Sunset Blvd. from Crescent Heights Blvd., Los Angeles, circa 1984

Michael’s Restaurant, Santa Monica

By now, my faithful readers, you are wondering what does an old Marlboro Man billboard have to do with food and restaurants?  Well, let me tell you.  I first came to Los Angeles as an adult sometime in 1983.  I’d been to Los Angeles as a child once or twice but besides trips to Disneyland I hadn’t really spent any time there.  In the early ’80s when I was in my early 20s I was living in San Francisco, and working in the restaurant business.  At the time I was working for Chef Jeremiah Tower.  Jeremiah and a few members of his staff were invited to attend the wedding of Michael and Kim McCarty.  Michael McCarty of Michael’s Restaurant in Santa Monica.  I was one of the staff lucky enough to go.  The wedding was very chic and took place in Malibu.  Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck and his wife, Barbara Lazaroff, were there as well as other chefs and restaurateurs of the day.  It was a fun, lively wedding with, naturally, incredible food.

Michael McCarty, middle, & Jeremiah Tower, right, at Michael McCarty's wedding circa 1982

The trip was my re-introduction to Los Angeles and Southern California.  I remember a lot of light, lots of white everywhere, palm trees and warm ocean breezes.  I’d come from foggy, cold, wet San Francisco.  My body and my head were like what is this place?  It’s hot, there’s blue, blue sky, there are mountains.  I was in heaven.  I was hooked.  I moved down the following year.

Jeremiah Tower, Margrit Beaver, Robert Mondavi and James Nassikas (hidden) at Michael McCarty's wedding circa 1982

Kim McCarty dancing at her wedding

A recent article in Saveur magazine by Patrick Kuh, ‘Nights on the Town: A Short History of Fine Dining in Los Angeles’ got me thinking back to my own experiences in the restaurant business in Los Angeles, and to how innocent the restaurant scene was in the early ’80s.  It was all so new, young and exciting.  On one of my first trips down from San Francisco – a weekend trip – my friend Adele and I did a whirlwind tour.  We saw all the tourist spots, and hit some restaurants.

Photographs, (an explanation)

Before I continue, an explanation about the photographs.  I’ve been wanting to write this piece for awhile but I didn’t have photos from the time period, or of the places I wanted to write about.  It was the ’80s before digital cameras and taking pictures of everything.  I looked through my ‘archives,’ and the photos here are all I came up with.  I did take a series of shots of the Marlboro Man so I decided to use him, to me he was a symbol of the time.  I also took the really bad black and white shots at the McCarty wedding.  I wish I could do better.  I was not a great photographer back then; I think I’ve improved.

The back side of the Marlboro Man with the Chateau Marmont in the background

Spago, (the original one, on Horn above Sunset)

On my trip with Adele, we ate at Spago when it was still on Horn Avenue above Sunset, above the car rental agency (now a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), and across the street from Tower Records.  This was the original Spago, the one with the wonderful coveted window tables overlooking the lights of Los Angeles.  Adele and I scored a two top close to the front room and those windows; close enough to watch Joan Collins having dinner with friends.  That was a big deal, it was the time of ‘Dynasty’ and Joan was huge.  We did, of course, eat the famous Smoked Salmon Pizza with Caviar, and other wonderful things.  At the table next to us a movie mogul and his girlfriend befriended us, bought us a bottle of champagne, and then insisted we join them for a night cap at Sushi on Sunset.  It turned out to be quite the raucous night.

When I was down with Jeremiah and his staff for the McCarty wedding we also ate at Spago.  On that visit I met a very young Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton.  Mark was Executive Chef; Nancy was Pastry Chef.  Throughout my years of working in the Los Angeles restaurant business I went to Spago many times, and always had a great time.  It was a classic, pitch perfect Los Angeles restaurant.  A place to see and be seen with great food.  Times change; it grew up and moved to Beverly Hills.  Wolfgang became a trillionaire.  Peel and Silverton went on to their own successes.

Restaurant Muse, Beverly Blvd., Fairfax District, (most recently the space housed Grace Restaurant)

When I moved to L.A. in 1983 I needed a job.  After working the Christmas season at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, I took a job as maître d’ at Restaurant Muse — or just Muse as most people called it.  To me, this was the quintessential Los Angeles restaurant of the ’80s.  All white inside with gray booths and banquets, gray industrial carpeting on the floor, polished concrete in the bar area, and an amazing tank of tropical fish over the bar.  Windows up high on the street side so it had a fairly dark interior during the day.  An immense metal sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky hung from the ceiling and dominated the dining room.  At Muse it was not about the food; it was all about the scene.  Owner, Ron Braun had crafted a club cum restaurant and it was hugely popular for many years.  We had a lot of Hollywood players who were regulars from celebrity photographers, to film producers, directors and executives, to record executives, to the stars themselves.

Muse & Madonna (& Prince)

One of our regulars was an A&R executive at Sire Records.  He came in for lunch several times a week.  One day he handed me a cassette tape and asked me to play it — often.  I immediately put it on the sound system then looked at the writing on the case: ‘Madonna.’  It was an advance copy of her first album ‘Madonna.’  We played it constantly, it was a huge hit at the restaurant.  A few months later the album exploded, her star quickly ascended, and she became a regular patron of the restaurant.  She once said she came to Muse for the margaritas.  This was during her ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Boy Toy’ phase so whenever she called to make a reservation we (hand) wrote into the reservation book: ‘Boy Toy’ or ‘Material Girl.’  Each time I started a shift I’d look to see if she’d been in, or was coming in.

Another memorable moment at Muse was the Friday night a guy in a black suit appeared at the host stand and said he needed two tables next to each other.  He had no reservations.  Every table was taken, and we had people waiting in the bar.  I told him we couldn’t do it.  He said it was for Prince.  I said where is he?  He said outside in the car.  A couple of tables were in the process of leaving but not side by side.  I persuaded two women to move tables so I could get two booths together.  Once both tables were ready, the guy in the suit radioed out to the limousine.

A moment later Prince walked in with Madonna on his arm.  We didn’t know Madonna was with him.  They sat together at one booth, side by side, facing the back wall.  Prince’s security detail sat at the other booth.  When they walked in the restaurant went silent as the other patrons looked, but the dinnertime din resumed as soon as they sat down.  These were jaded Angelenos used to seeing celebrities in their midst.  Muse was a lot of fun to work at, a lot of fun to hang out at, and a solid introduction for me to Hollywood, and the Los Angeles food scene.

An '80s purloined ashtray from City Restaurant

City Restaurant, La Brea Ave. Fairfax District, (now Sonora, a Mexican restaurant)

One of my favorite places at the time was City Restaurant, started by the young chef duo, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken.  Like I mentioned before the color white played a big part in my early impressions of Los Angeles.  It seemed to me it was the color of the decade.  So many restaurants were white both inside and out; places like Spago, Citrus, Muse, and West Beach Café.  City was no exception.  It was a cavernous space with a lot of light, and big windows.  The food was so different to me.  The menus were influenced by the chefs travels to India, Mexico, Thailand and Japan.  It echoed those ethnic cuisines but also had those uniquely ’80s-So Cal twists of lightness and cleanliness of flavor.  I loved to sit at the cement bar and order a selection of starters before I started my shift at neighboring Muse.  Feniger’s current restaurant, Street, harkens back to what these two chefs did at City.

L’Orangerie, Ma Maison, Valentino, Border Grill (on Melrose), 385 North, West Beach Café (now James Beach), Angeli Caffe, 72 Market

The ’80s were such a fun time to be in the restaurant business in Los Angeles.  I made it a point to try to eat at all the hot spots, and I did for the most part.  Some I can’t remember now.  The places mentioned in this post are those that I could remember, or that made a lasting impression on me.  There are so many places that have come and gone since the ’80s.  385 North was Roy Yamaguchi’s ‘Hawaiian Fusion’ place on La Cienega — I think it may now be a strip club?  The original Border Grill was located in a tiny, narrow space on Melrose Avenue just west of La Brea.  I loved what Chefs Feniger and Milliken did with Mexican food at that restaurant.  Now Border Grill is a huge place in Santa Monica.  Several places have survived over the years: Valentino’s, Michael’s and Angeli Caffe are still around.  I remember when Evan Kleiman opened Angeli on Melrose Avenue.  I used to eat there a few times a month.  This was well before her KCRW-Good Food fame.

It’s been well-documented that in the early ’80s a sea change took place within the Los Angeles food scene.  A movement started; its own version of California Cuisine different from what the chefs in Northern California were doing.  Led by Michael McCarty, Wolfgang Puck, Michel Richard, Susan Feniger, Mary Sue Milliken, Roy Yamaguchi and others.  It was an exciting time to be eating in L.A.  Now the scene is all grown up.  The city has proven to the rest of the world that it can cook and eat.  It’s become so sophisticated.  When nostalgia gets the better of me I miss those early days when the Young Turks of the Los Angeles food world showed us what they were really made of — and how they could cook their asses off.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto; Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller: Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 65 Years of Recipes from Atlanta’s Favorite Dining Room by John Ferrell.

Chefs and winemakers can be a rough and tumble crowd.  Throw butchers into the mix and watch out.  Then there are chefs who also butcher.  Time to run the other way.  This spring my friend, Jo Stougaard (of My Last Bite), and I attended ‘Cochon 555 – 5 Chefs, 5 Pigs, 5 Winemakers’ in the Napa Valley.  The name pretty much says it all.  Both of us were curious to learn more about butchering, what goes into the process, and how it’s done.  This event sounded both fun and educational — and it took place in the Napa Valley.  The added incentive for me was that two of my favorite chefs were competing: John Stewart and Duskie Estes of Zazu Restaurant & Farm, and Bovolo in Sonoma County.  So one chilly Friday morning in February we set off on what ended up being a three day food filled adventure which I’ve been meaning to write about ever since.  Hate to use a worn out phrase but where does the time go?  So much went on during our trip, and we took so many pictures, that it would take hours of writing and editing to recount every detail.  This will be a somewhat condensed recap, then I’m going to let the photos that Jo and I took tell the rest of the story.  (For more photos look for the ‘Flickr Stream’ links below.)

Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Lunch at Chez Panisse, Berkeley, California

Our first stop was on the drive up to Napa from Oakland International Airport:  lunch at Chez Panisse, the café not the dining room.  I had eaten in the restaurant (both the dining room and the café) a handful of times when I worked in the restaurant business in the Bay Area in the 80s and 90s but Jo had never been.  It felt a bit like a pilgrimage.  The restaurant and Alice Waters have become so much more famous since the 80s and 90s.  The fact that Jo, a serious restaurant diner, had not been before made it even more fun.   We ordered a number of dishes so we could really get a sense of the menu and the food.  Everything, the food, the service, the ambiance, was wonderful; we had a primo seat (we also had one of the first reservations); it was the perfect start to the weekend.

Flickr Stream for Chez Panisse

Dinner at Ad Hoc, Yountville, California

Dinner that night was at another hallowed chef’s restaurant:  Ad Hoc. The chef being Thomas Keller.  Ad Hoc being one of many restaurants he owns on both coasts of the U.S., three of which are in the small Napa Valley town of Yountville.  I had heard so much about Thomas Keller’s restaurants but had never been to any.  Finally, I was in one.   It was wonderful.  I don’t think it’s the pinnacle of T.K. hallowed-ness which would have be The French Laundry (down the street from Ad Hoc) but it was a fine runner-up; and it represented perfectly the idea of ‘ad hoc.’  I liked the casual yet professional  atmosphere and service.  The food was hearty and straightforward, no gimmicks, and was prepared with obvious skill and attention to detail.  A garden behind the restaurant provides some of the restaurant’s produce.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Breakfast at Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, California

Yountville is jokingly referred to as ‘Thomas Kellerville.’  He has three restaurants and a bakery in a town that has one main street and a population of 2,916 (based on 2000 U.S. Census figures).  Chef Keller owns Ad Hoc, Bouchon, and the world-famous The French Laundry.  Opposite Bouchon is Bouchon Bakery where we had breakfast the two mornings we were in town.  Beautiful breads,  pastries, sandwiches, chocolates and other confectionery including foie gras doggy biscuits were among the baked goods that people stood in line for.  I wish there was a Bouchon Bakery in my neighborhood.  I’d ‘take’ my coffee there everyday all the while pretending to be in Paris.  It is that good.

Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Stop at The French Laundry, Yountville, California

After breakfast I took Jo on a tour of the Napa Valley, well, a mini-tour actually.  After walking around Yountville where we saw Ad Hoc in the daylight, Bouchon Restaurant, Bottega, Michael Chiarello’s place, and the retail food shop Napa Style, we made another pilgrimage, this time to The French Laundry.  Not that it was open, or that we were eating there, we simply stopped to be food tourists, to take pictures, to peer through windows, and be in the presence of culinary greatness.  We weren’t alone, there were Japanese tourists that asked us to take pictures of them to which Jo naturally obliged.  A side note here: when I was in high school in neighboring Santa Rosa in the late ’70s I took my prom date, Gabrielle, a French foreign exchange student, to The French Laundry in Yountville for a pre-prom dinner.  At the time the building that houses the current The French Laundry was a restaurant also named The French Laundry.  Years later when Keller took it over he kept the name.  The pre-Keller The French Laundry was quite good (at least to my 17 year old palate).  I’ve always wondered if it was one and the same as the place Keller now owns, and has made so famous.  Now I know.  I made my triumphant return.  Now to snag one of those oh-so-hard-to-get reservations!

Snack at the Oakville Grocery, Oakville, Caklifornia

Next we headed further up the Napa Valley to the little town of Oakville where the original Oakville Grocery is located.  I have a personal history with the renowned retail food store in that I worked as a cheese buyer at what was supposed to be the flagship Oakville Grocery in San Francisco back in the early ’80s.  I started just after the store opened and stayed for about a year before moving on to help film producer, Dino de Laurentiis open his gourmet food emporium, DDL Foodshow in New York City.  Those were heady days in the gourmet retail food-iverse.  Oakville Grocery was my introduction to the world of high end, fancy food. My days as a cheese buyer at Oakville are some of my fondest food memories.  It was fun to see the original store again after so many years.

(See below at bottom of post for Flickr Stream for Napa Valley Restaurants & Shops)

Butcher, Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats breaking down a heritage pig. Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Afternoon at Cochon 555, Silverado Resort, Napa, California

The main event, the reason we made the trip, took place on Sunday afternoon.  Cochon 555’s goal is to celebrate and raise awareness of heritage breed pigs like Gloucester Old Spots, Yorkshire, Duroc, and Berkshire Cross.  Cochon 555 events take place all across the country.  5 local chefs are matched to 5 local heritage breed pig farmers and must come up with dishes using their specific heritage pig.  The dishes are then judged by professional judges and the public who is in attendance.  5 local wineries supply the wine.  The chefs competing at the Napa event were Chris Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood; Peter Pahk, Silverado Resort, John Stewart & Duskie Estes, Zazu Restaurant & Farm, Devin Knell, The French Laundry and Dennis Lee, Namu.  Each chef created and served several pork-based dishes.  Butcher, Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats held a butchering demonstration where he broke down a whole pig.  Jo and I mistakenly thought the event would be five chefs breaking down whole pigs before an audience of judges and public — so not the case.  It was a tasting event with very good food from all the chefs.  The winner of the Napa event was Devin Knell of The French Laundry.

Flickr Stream for Cochon 555 Napa Event

Late Dinner at Bottega Ristorante, Yountville, California

After the Cochon event ended we still had room to have a late dinner at Chef Michael Chiarello’s restaurant, Bottega.  We both liked the food, the atmosphere and the impeccable service.  Chef Chiarello maintains the high quality that chefs and restaurants in the Napa Valley are known for.   During our three day eating extravaganza I didn’t eat one bad bite.  It was all, every morsel, stellar including the food at Bottega.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Breakfast at Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, California

Again!  Of course!  Where else?!

Stop at Napa Valley Olive Oil Mfg., Saint Helena, California

This was our last day.  We had a mid-afternoon flight out of Oakland International Airport.  I, of course, had a few more things to show Jo.  I’m forever reading articles in magazines and on the Internet, and tearing them out, or printing them.  I’d seen something about the Napa Valley Olive Oil Mfg. somewhere, had never been and wanted to go.  It’s further north in the Valley, up in Saint Helena, and worth the trip.  A tiny place chock full of dried sausages, salame, mushrooms, canned items, and bulk olive oil that is dispensed from a huge metal tank.  A foodie’s treasure trove.  As we were poking around, finding a few things to buy, Jo whispers to me: ‘Isn’t that Cindy Pawlcyn?”  I’d met Cindy years ago, eaten in her Napa Valley restaurant, Mustards, many times but I hadn’t seen her in years.  Sure enough, Jo was right.  We saw her in the parking lot and Jo spoke to her.  It was indeed Chef Pawlcyn.  Oddly enough our last stop before leaving the Valley was her restaurant Mustards.  But first a quick nip into Dean & Deluca – a new addition to the Valley since my regular visits in the ‘8os and 90’s.

Dean & Deluca, Saint Helena, California

I actually remember when Dean & Deluca was one store on Prince Street in SoHo in New York City.  Now it’s a global company with stores around the world including, apparently, one in the Napa Valley.  After we left the Napa Valley Olive Oil Mfg. we quickly stopped in as I wanted to see what this D & D looked like.  All the usual high end food products and produce in a gleaming metal and glass building.  If I lived in the area I’d certainly shop there – in fact as we were leaving Chef Pawlcyn was pulling in and waved to us – but I miss the old store on Prince Street with its uneven wooden floors and overflowing barrels of all sorts of good things to eats.

Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Lunch at Mustards Grill, Yountville, California

When I worked in the retail food and restaurant business in San Francisco during the ’80s and ’90s I made frequent weekend trips to the Napa Valley.  The weekend always ended with a late lunch at Mustards before heading back to the City.  When I first went to Mustards it was Chef Cindy Pawlcyn’s only restaurant.  She went on to open Fog City Diner in San Franciso, the Rio Grill in Carmel, and now has Go Fish and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in Saint Helena.  I always thought Mustards felt like an old-fashioned road house both in design and menu.  The food, ‘American Grill food,’ was always good; trustworthy and dependable.  At the end of a weekend it was the perfect antidote for too much Napa Valley wine and the fuel we needed to get us home.  Not much has changed.  A plate of oven-roasted garlic, a perfect cheeseburger with stellar French fries and we were ready for the return trip home.  Our food-filled weekend coming to a perfect end.  Jo and I have been on two food oriented trips together and have had the best time.  She’s a fantastic traveling companion, and I look forward to our next foodie adventure.

Flickr Stream for Napa Valley Restaurants & Shops

Recommendation: Savor Los Angeles, Friday, July 30th, 7pm to 10pm ~ a sweets tasting event of one-of-a-kind bites from an exclusive set of L.A.’s best purveyors of sweet treats.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.