Tag Archives: california

Umami Burger – Los Angeles, Ca

umami |oōˈmämē|
noun
a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter)…
ORIGIN Japanese, literally ‘deliciousness.’

In a small, modern interior of Umami Burger, the assistant on the next day’s shoot, Fernando, and I sat down for a burger. He had just gotten off a 6 hour flight from NYC and was ravenous. I had eaten just 2 hours before, but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to have what is considered to be one of the best burgers. At the very least, I could take home what I couldn’t finish. I ordered the Truffle Burger, with house-made truffle cheese and truffle glaze. Fernando ordered the Umami Burger with shitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, Parmesan crisp, and umami ketchup. We also ordered a Truffled Beet Salad and a salted caramel ice cream sandwich to split. It was all amazing. Needless to say, I finished the entire burger.

Umami Burger
850 S La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, Ca 90036
(323) 931-3000

The Umami Burger – shiitake mushroom, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, parmesan crisp, umami ketchup

The Truffle Burger – house-made truffle cheese, truffle glaze

Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwich

Intelligentsia Coffee – Los Angeles, Ca

On a narrow two lane street, called Abbot Kinney Boulevard, you find an array of shopping and restaurants. There are also a host of several coffee shops. The one that sticks out the most, or at least, has the longest line is Intelligentsia Coffee of Venice Beach. If Jones Coffee is the place where coffee connoisseurs go when they die, Intelligentsia is where coffee geeks go. On top of Intelligentsia’s standard bucket-ccino, you can also do chemex brew, if you’d prefer. And the spacious interior allows for enough room to walk around and stare at all the gadgetry and wonder WTH it all does.

Intelligentsia Coffee
1331 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90291
(310) 399-1233

Guelaguetza – Oaxacan Food in Los Angeles, Ca

Mostly when you think of Mexican food, your mind jumps to tacos, burritos, guacamole, and quesadillas. But there is a whole cuisine completely separate from this style of food. Well mostly. Oaxacan (pronounced Wa-Hawk-an) cuisine is where the mole comes from, if you’ve ever had chicken mole, or Mole Poblano, you’ve had, at the very least, Oaxacan inspired dishes. Another big thing, is the Mexican style pizza, Tlayudas. The sauce is often made from ground up spices and, sometimes, bugs. Yes bugs. Sorry there is no photo of the Tlayudas – I had to make some choices based on budget so I went with a more traditional cactus dish and the fried grasshoppers appetizer. I liked the grasshopper dish served with oaxacan string cheese but the cactus dish was a little less than to be desired. I found the grasshopper dish colorful and pretty. The most amazing thing is the tortilla chips served with mole. Amazing!

Guelaguetza
3014 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 427-0608

Tortilla Chips with Mole

Fried Grasshoppers with Tomato, onion, avocado and Oaxacan string cheese

Grilled cactus topped with grilled beef sautéed with onions, tomato, bell peppers, and covered with melted Oaxacan string cheese.

Black Beans

Pann’s – Los Angeles, Ca

Ever wonder where that iconic diner scene from Pulp Fiction was shot? Well it wasn’t Pann’s but Pann’s is the closest thing left to that Googie coffee shop architecture of the 1950′s that still exists today. The Hawthorne Diner, where Pulp fiction WAS shot was torn down to make way for an Auto Zone, or some crap like that. A Mid Century Modern spot in LA, Pann’s has been around since 1958 and serving the classic diner fare that we all know and love. I thought that the french toast was great, the Belgian waffle was ok but the Biscuit and Gravy was absolutely the best I’ve ever had.

Pann’s
6710 LaTijera Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045
323-776-3770

Belgian Waffle

Closeup of Belgian Waffle

Counter Service (doesn’t really exist in NYC?)

French Toast

The worlds best Biscuits and gravy

Langers – Los Angeles, Ca

I stopped by Langers on a Sunday at about 7pm, having not checked their hours beforehand and was sadly disappointed that they weren’t open and also that they close at 4pm when they are open. At 7pm the light cascading in the place was absolutely beautiful. Why I didn’t take a picture then, who knows. But it would have been perfect for this little story. Langers, please stay open later! While it is also a tourist destination it is completely different then the Katz experience in NYC (and dare I say Langer’s pastrami is better). They are different in their own right and I’d never turn down the pastrami at Katz’s either. Langers goes to the top of my list for places to visit in LA. Pastrami with a little mustard is all you need. I’m not eating diary right now, or I would have gone with the Pastrami and Swiss. It looked so good. A basic pastrami was all I got and its a good test as to the quality of the sandwich, much in the same way that a plain cheese pizza is a good barometer of how good NYC pizza is.

Langers Delicatessen
704 South Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-8050

Pastrami on Rye

El Pique Taco Truck – Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA

We love food trucks in NYC. They are an added treat that has been booming for a few years here. In La, they are simply a way of life. Everyone is different, but they all feature the same kind of food – cheap mexican food. Down and dirty and on the go. El Pique was recommended to me by a friend who frequents the truck. I made a stop there on my up to Pasadena. The cost of a single taco – $1.25 – unreal! Here is what I found and how you can find it.

El Pique Taco Truck
York and Ave 53 (in a parking lot of a car wash)
Highland Park, CA 90042

Al Pastor taco

Chicken Taco

Al Pastor taco

La Lengua Taco (Cow Tongue)

Mexican Coke

Ubuntu – Napa, Ca

In the restaurant world, the fact that you are noticed by Michelin is quite an honor. A 1 star Michelin restaurant is a pretty big deal considering that they awarded sparingly. Ubuntu was awarded a 1 star rating for 2010 and I can see why after having an amazing, experimental and absolutely delicious meal emphasizing vegetables as the main ingredient. This place should not be recognized as a vegetarian restaurant – it is a celebration of vegetables and focuses on a beautiful range of fresh vegetables. It is suggested that when you dine there that you eat family style, ordering 2-3 items per person. Like most of Napa Valley restaurants, there is a corking fee, which is waived if ordering an additional bottle of their own impressive, moderately-priced wine list.

Ubuntu
1140 Main Street
Napa, CA 94559-2639
(707) 251-5656

Braised Fennel with Crème Fraiche, dressed with micro-cilantro

carta da musica, homemade crispy sardinian flatbread
today’s LEAVES barely dressed, truffled pecorino, orielles

marinated ‘ruby queen’ BEETS with goat/almond horchata
fork crushed avocado, pickled rhubarb and quinoa

a warm gremolatta crusted zeppola stuffed with cool burrata
‘surry’ ARUGULA, kumquat agrodolce, AGRETTI

‘greenstring’ farms potatoes baked in spring GARLIC ash *
green GARLIC emulsion, LEGUME & black mushroom salad

Fresh made noodles with a sauerkraut broth

arbuckle grits, slowly cooked with goats whey, salsa MARO spezzato
fresh ricotta, blackened & braised FAVAS, lavender MINT

Chocolate cake with smoked cherries

Putting on The Ritz – Catering in Napa Valley, Ca

The on-set catering for our shoot was provided by a wonderful caterer Chery Corshen of Puttin’ on The Ritz. I thought she was absolutely wonderful and really went the extra mile in getting feedback and adjusting the menu according to our tastes.

Falafel

Couscous

Muhammara, a Turkish and Syrian red pepper spread thickened with bread crumbs and walnuts

Dolma’s – Stuffed Grape Leaves

Brownies

Caprese Salad

Pork Loin with a Creamy Tuna Sauce

Braised Artichokes

Breakfast at Bardessono

Every morning while in Napa, I started out by having breakfast at the Bardessono, a green resort who holds the distinct certification of LEEDS Platinum (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) for having a very high credit for energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. At this resort you will have to specify if you want to have your sheets changed daily as they will not do this automatically like in most hotels. They use solar paneling and recycle their water.

But enough about that, lets move on to the food:

Croque Madame

Croque Madame, inside view. This was so amazing, I ordered it twice (not in the same day, though)

Classic American Brekkie – Eggs, Bacon, Potatoes and Fresh Bread

Pancakes with Strawberry Compote

Pacific Blues Cafe: Yountville, Ca

The food at Pacific Blue Cafe is kind of meh, but they get points for having a very cute exterior and a great patio seating. I will say that I loved their garlic mashed potatoes!

6525 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599-1300
(707) 944-4455

Exterior of Pacific Blues Cafe in downtown Yountville

Calamari

A very strange Tortilla soup. Not bad, just different.

Ceasar Salad with Steak

Fried Chicken

Snap Food

capturing food culture, all over the world, one plate at a time