Hanjip: Seoulful Elevated Korean BBQ in Culver City

With the largest Korean community outside of Seoul, Los Angeles food lovers are spoiled in the best way by the abundance of amazing restaurants concentrated in Ktown.

While I definitely have my much beloved 'everyday' type restaurants on regular rotation, few have tried to elevate the cuisine to more of a luxury dining experience.

Now, two brilliant minds have paired up to bring fine dining korean bbq westward to Culver City.

Chef Chris Oh, who brought playful inventive Korean to Westsiders in the form of Seoul Sausage (and now to Little Tokyo with Seoul Sausage Company), and restauranteur extraordinaire Stephane Bombet, who is responsible for one of my absolute favorite restaurants in the city (Faith and Flower) as well as many successful launches including Picca, Paiche and the newly opened Viviane are even taking it a step further - creating new sure-to-be-staple dishes while paying homage to the classics.

Even the banchan (complimentary side dishes) that are first to arrive at the table were impressive: high quality, fresh ingredients for familiar dishes like kimchi, potato salad, fish cakes, and inventive ones like marinated octopus tentacles in thin tasty slivers, and acorn jelly which is typically topped with just a spicy sauce, with crisp nori as well.

Then to the main attraction: the meat menu is carnivore nirvana with beautifully marbled staples like ribeye, skirt steak, short ribs and sliced brisket in prime cuts, pork belly ($23-$31 a platter) and - this I love - options that are more unusual to see this side of town, for the more adventurous, like pork neck / jowl, tongue, intestines and baby octopus. 

Hanjip like many others offers their meats both marinated or not - the latter so that you can control the intensity of flavor if you wish, using their dipping sauces.  I personally always prefer pre-marinated, for even flavor that has infused throughout the meat, and trust the chef here - the flavors are skillfully controlled and well balanced.

Definitely try the hamachi (yellowtail fish) collar as well - an item more familiar on Japanese menus than Korean ones - with its fatty juicy tender meat, and wake-up-the-next-day-with-a-need-for-another-fix delicious marinade, made addictively smokey over the grill.

As another fun element that makes every guest feel VIP - Hanjip will break out gold grillz for you to cook the meats on.

The award for most dramatic cut of meat - that is sure to become Hanjip's signature - is the gargantuan Tomahawk steak ($120) that is on a bone so big it looked like it came from a pterodactyl, cooked sous vide with FOIE GRAS BUTTER for the most luscious tender texture and earthy umami, captured within a light and crisp char when seared on the grill.

Part of the reason I love Korean barbecue so much is for the very interactive, social aspect of the dining experience.  While the chef of course does all the prep for you, you get the chance to actually finish the cooking yourself, with your dining companions, as a shared activity.  The fun of it is in working together to complete your meal, alternating roles of cook / server/ eater all while at the dining table.

The tomahawk takes that to the next level and will definitely make for a very memorable night out (for up to 4 people to feed on, I would say!) - and one that will have people reminiscing for weeks after. (Read again: FOIE GRAS BUTTER!!!)

Beyond the amazing meats, the 'Bonus' section dishes are stars in their own right as well.

As with his other restaurants, Stephane's team really pays attention to every detail here: even the humble Kimchi Fried Rice ($10), ubiquitous to most korean restaurants, gets an upgrade in taste sauteed in brown butter with lovely runny egg + seaweed toppings, and in presentation in an elevated version of the lunch tin (shikdorak).

A bonus dish that was not only a fun photo opp, but an example of Chef Oh's creativity, is the Bone Marrow Corn Cheese ($15) with shaved parmesan and bonito flakes.  The luxe 'meat butter' is scraped down and mixed up into the sweet kernels of corn punctuated by counterbalancing textures and intensity of savory with bonito flakes, and creamier with parmesan.

My favorite of the Bonuses was officially called Uni Steamed Egg ($15), but what I like to call Egg on Egg on Egg Trifecta.  Chef Oh takes the steamed egg that is commonly found in korean restaurants, and adds bright creamy umami sea urchin on top, with salmon roe for additional bursts of brine, and tops the whole thing with furikake in a steamy, fluffy cloud of foodgasmic eggporn deliciousness.  Seafood lovers will defnitely have their dishes to love beyond meats as well!!!

(If for some bizarre and unfathomable reason you do not like sea urchin, this dish is offered sans uni as well, for a very good deal of $5.)

Which reminds me...my actual favorite of the 'mains' was the Carabineros Prawns ($88 for 3).  These prawns - some of the biggest in the world - typically come from Morocco, and I haven't seen this on very many menus in LA yet at all.  They are the MOST delicious prawns I've ever had. With intense, concentrated flavorful meat that is in perfect balance between savory and sweet, with texture more robust and meaty than shrimp but softer and less muscular than lobster, these divine sea creatures are a MUST get whenever you encounter them, and definitely at Hanjip.  Foodies who are also shrimp/prawn-head lovers will appreciate the giant treasure troves here, of precious roe, tomalley, and clean structured dark orange flavor bombs that had me disregarding all sense of decorum and going all in, juices dripping down to both elbows or not.  Even other food bloggers used to seeing all kinds of gluttonous debauchery were slightly (or majorly) appalled at the spectacle - but these were SO GOOD that I didn't care one bit.

Besides the luxe food offerings, another point of difference with Hanjip from most other KBBQs is that you can get great wines to pair with your meal. I don't know anything about wines but expert @pleasethepalate was happy with the list!

All in all, Stephane can count this as another hit in his portfolio of super successful dining destinations.  It's become an instant favorite for me at least, and I will be back again as soon as I possible can.

Til then, I will remain in severe #foodenvy mode with all the Sony employees who have Hanjip right in their backyard.

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Hanjip
3829 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90232
Ph: 323.720.8804

Website: hanjip.com

Parking:  Structure on Cardiff next to Bank of America.  First 2 hours free.

Look for reservations (and rewards points!) at OpenTable.

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*Disclaimer: this meal was hosted. 

Ramen Yamadaya: 20 Hour Tonkotsu and That's Not All They Got

I admire domestic goddesses.  But Susie Homemaker is just not in the cards for me, for many reasons - including my propensity to choose high stress day jobs that don't leave me in the mood to spend hours in the kitchen before and after elaborate meals, especially on weeknights.  Plus, I love what pro chefs serve up too much.

So I always appreciate places that can feed me on a regular basis - get me in and out for little time and money - and feed me well.

Ramen Yamadaya is one such place, that I can hit up on my way home from work. They slow cook their tonkotsu broth - breaking down the essence in pork bones - for 20 hours - something I would never have time to do at home - and would certainly never be able to do as well as them! 

And they have a fantastic dinner set that leaves me with delicious leftovers sizeable enough for lunch the next day!

It's a no frills, small storefront with a handful of tables.  You can choose a la carte items or pick a set. 

I liked the deal for the dinner set and went with: Yamadaya Ramen (everything in it) + Fried Rice + Fried Chicken (4 pcs) for $9.95 + $4.80 = $14.75. (Students can also get an extra noodle or steamed rice for free - how's that for hospitality at Yamadaya?) My Fried Rice ($6.80 on regular menu, size difference unknown) came first: it was a deliciously fragrant and generous bowl - I almost couldn't stop eating, but I knew that I still had two more dishes to come and fried rice is easier to take home than ramen.  I got a to-go box for this and had a nice and filling lunch the next day.

Next up:  Karaage (Japanese style fried chicken), 4 pieces ($5.80 for 10 pieces on regular menu - so you're getting a $2.32 value for 4 pieces with the set meal).  I loved the actual chicken - juicy, flavorful and fall-off-the-bone-tender, but the batter could have been more crisp and coherent - I wanted more flavor and less of a dry powdery texture.  Not bad for a side dish for a couple of bucks though.

Then the centerpiece of the meal made its dramatic entrance: Yamadaya Ramen ($9.95 a la carte from regular menu).  The thing to note when ordering your ramen, as it was confusing for me as a first timer - is that you can customize your bowl, to a certain extent. You pretty much choose the meats and other additions you want to your bowl (out of the four options available: "all stars", "extra chashu pork", "mouth melting big pork belly" or "deep fried huge pork loin"), AND the broth you want used. 

As far as additions: not sure what mouth melting refers to - temperature or spice, perhaps?  Or that the pork belly is so tender it will melt your soul?

Additions: I was drawn to the description for the Yamadaya option: "All stars topped with two kinds of chashu pork, egg and fried pork skin".  
Broth: You can choose from any of the four options at the top of the menu, from basic pork to soy sauce flavored, to "rich and fatty" with black garlic oil, or spicy.  I LOVED the monthly special at Ramen Jinya that has the black garlic oil, so that's the one I went for.

One taste and I was a believer.  They are smart to trumpet the "20 hour tonkotsu" as their slogan - you can really taste the love that went into this in the amazing, rich pork-packed broth.  And I devoured on sight, the luscious tender chashu, counterbalanced by crispy pork skin, tempered by a delicious egg with soft, creamy yolk.  And the embellishments of two crisp, toasted sheets of nori.  My only note is that I found the noodles just ever so slightly too chewy for my taste - I still prefer the more malleable noodles at Ramen Jinya.

In any case, loved the TWO meals I got out of Yamadaya for under $15, and will definitely be back way too much. It's hard to make a gourmet meal for party of one and make it worth my time -and I'm unfortunately not big on eating the same thing for days - once it goes into the fridge, aka black hole for leftovers, it's pretty much dead to me. But next day leftovers as tasty as Yamadaya's fried rice - I'll make a point not to forget.   So, Ramen Yamadaya is such a great option for busy people like me who just want to have a quick but delicious meal, cooked with care - ready when you are, and no dishes to take care of after! 

(And when the Sherman Oaks location opens in April, which I am so excited about, I will have another option close to me and be able to hit up either one on my way home from work - yes!)

On a 7 point scale:Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 5 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 5 stars
Service - 5 stars
Overall experience - 5.5 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 100%

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Ramen Yamadaya
11172 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232Ph: 310.815.8776
Parking: Free lot in back of restaurant
Website: ramen-yamadaya.com
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L'Epicerie, Royal/T: A Tale of Two Breakfasts in Culver City

Have I ever mentioned that I love Culver City?  It's the best of both worlds: small town feel with the rare-for-LA pedestrian culture, yet super accessible from most parts of the city.  Add to that the rapid rise of chef & market driven fare, in well designed but intimate and unpretentious spaces, and you've got all the ingredients for success. 

By happy happenstance, on a friend's recommendation, I recently switched to a mechanic right by Culver City.  So when I had to take my car to the shop a few weeks back, I was excited to actually have great options for places to spend a few hours while waiting for repairs to be done - and within walking/ bus distance!

Since it was early in the morning, my first stop was at L'Epicerie for breakfast.  L'Epicerie is a combination of cafe+restaurant+gourmet market, serving up European inspired cooking, set within a cozy corner space. 

Despite an impressive fine-dining pedigree (Michelin-starred restaurants in France under such legendary chefs as Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy, and most recently at helm of fine dining venue RH Restaurant at the Andaz hotel), Chef Sébastien Archambault's goal with L'Epicerie is to offer a taste of Southwest France in an accessible, relaxed environment. 

I loved the airy, sunlit venue - however, the L'Epicerie houses 3 sections within a small space, that are not immediately clearly defined (at least in my non-morning person semi-groggy state).  Which led to a not so idyllic experience to start - with car repairs taking a large chunk of my monthly budget, I went for the cafe fare, and after placing my order at the counter, received a number marker and was advised to sit anywhere (food to be brought over when ready).

As a blogger, I went on autopilot, gravitating to the window and natural light for photo-taking.  Within a minute, a voice shouted out from the tapas bar, clear across front of house: "You can't sit there - you bought from the cafe, you need to stay over there".  I immediately apologized and moved over to the 3-4 table cafe area.  Then I realized that was rather rude for her to shout across the space like that - I did not intend some unmerited 'upgrade' to the restaurant, but simply did not register a separation between the restaurant and cafe.  It was so early in the morning that I was one of only 3 parties in the entire space, so it wasn't a matter of taking up a table that was needed.  It was an honest mistake, and it didn't feel great to be treated like a second-class citizen who was trying to 'sneak by' to 'first class'.  She could have taken a nicer approach and achieved the same result of moving me over.  Bad customer service aside, I tried to enjoy my morning by focusing on the food.


In the mood for a classic, I went with the 3 Organic Egg Omelette ($10) - you can choose 3 ingredients to go in from an extensive list: I chose smoked salmon, bacon and mushrooms.  This turned out to be one of the best omelettes I'd had this year - with every ingredient tasting so fresh that I could imagine the meal at some farmhouse in the French countryside, where the chef literally just plucked the eggs from the mother hen and the mushrooms from the field. 

On the side: a fresh salad lightly dressed with vinaigrette, for a perfect breakfast plate at a fairly reasonable price. 

In keeping with the farm fresh theme, I loved my Raspberry Smoothie ($5) with raspberry, strawberry, granola and fat-free yogurt.  Delicious.  It was also nice to stroll through the very small but eclectic market, checking out their cheese selection (includes French cheese of course, as well as 'local' notables such as Cowgirl Creamery) and European snacks that are hard to find elsewhere in LA.  A small case of pastries included Parisian style macarons.  There was also a table by the wine racks that could be nice for a small group of aficionados.  Overall (initial rude service aside), I enjoyed breakfast at L'Epicerie, and made a mental note to come back another time to check out restaurant offerings.

With a few more hours left to kill, I decided to grab a second breakfast (and pay the calories forward by walking up the street) at a place that I'd heard a lot about, that would offer amusement for my remaining time - Royal/T. 

Royal/T is also a hybrid space, but of a very different tone - it's part art gallery+store+cafe, with heavy modern Japanese influence. And waitresses in cosplay. Yep, you read that right. More on that later.

Located up the street and somewhat removed from the hubbub of downtown Culver City, Royal/T can be easy to miss if you're not looking for it. The storefront is encased in green shrubbery, with just a neon pink crown atop the entrance to note its presence.

Once inside, bright and airy with wide open skylights, there is a fun merchandise area on one side, and an art exhibit to the other.
The art exhibit was pop culture inspired and playful, lots of fun to look through and made for a unique, cool and interesting setting for the cafe.

As was the merchandise area - I could imagine this store being plucked from Tokyo and placed with all elements intact into Royal/T. It was entertaining to look through the quirky products, including tote bags that transform into backpacks, Kubrick bears and an illustrated "Children's book for grown-ups" titled "Everybody dies - don't feel bad" that was funny and poignant at the same time.

Meet Phoebe, a graphic design student
working part-time in the cosplay cafe

 Aside from the store and art space, there was the cafe, which is inspired by Maid Cafes in Japan - and represents LA's first Japanese-inspired cosplay cafe.  Waitresses are dressed and styled as if they are anime french maids.  You might think this would be uncomfortable for some, but the waitresses I saw/met that day seemed to enjoy it / relish being in character. 

Though the menu looked interesting (e.g. Green tea soba noodles, Kabocha Squash Ravioli), unfortunately I was still too full to have any actual food, so I opted to go liquid breakfast for my second 'meal'.  Royal/T has a wall of loose leaf teas, but the barista on duty recommended that as a first time visitor, I should try their signature Royal/T Milk Tea ($4.50), made with black tea, rose petals, pieces of fruit and vanilla brewed with soymilk.

The tea came in a french press pot, was really fragrant, with pronounced floral / fresh fruit notes, in a sophisticated way, not the sickeningly sweet flavors a la mass branded tea bags or lesser cafes that are not tea-focused.  It was well balanced, served at just the right temperature, and made deliciously smooth with the steamed soymilk - this was milk tea served the Asian way.  Loved this and would come back another day to try the High Tea Set service as well, which includes "assorted savory canapés and desserts on 3-tiered tray" with a pot of tea of your choice for $19.50. 

I had picked up a free magazine from the front of the store, and was left in peace to leisurely enjoy my tea/ read for a blissful hour or two. 

Afterwards, I discovered a whole back gallery with additional exhibits, up the ramp past the restroom, and did a quick walkthrough before heading out to pick up my car.

All in all, a fun time in Culver City - with two very distinctly different spaces and cuisines, but both equally enjoyable and appreciated.  Knock on wood I won't be needing car service again anytime soon (my wallet hurts just thinking about it), but if I do, thanks to places like L'Epicerie and Royal/T, I won't be dreading it quite as much.

 [For more pictures from both locations, check out my album on Facebook]


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L'Epicerie
9900 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232
Ph: 310.815.1600
Parking: Free in building

Website: lepiceriemarket.com
Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/LEpicerieMarket
Look for reservations: OpenTable.com



Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Ph: 310.559.6300
Parking: Street meters

Website: royal-t.org
Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/RoyalTcafe


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Lukshon - Lunching Like a Lady Who Lunches

Once in a while, we all need a break from the daily grind.  Even if it's just one day.  I chose to spend a rare day off last week on a short escape to Southeast Asia via Lukshon.  Southeast Asia in terms of a modern take on the cuisine, anyway - just a drive cross town to the lovely Helms Bakery complex in Culver City.

Lukshon only serves lunch Tuesdays through Fridays noon-3pm, so it's 'abandon all hope,' all ye who are on the clock and don't work within short driving distance of Culver City (my office is in the Valley, so no way I could have made it during a normal work week).  So I was excited to have time off to check out the chic space, next to Chef/Owner Sang Yoon's other popular restaurant, Father's Office.

To celebrate my temporary 'escape' - and fuel the illusion that I could do what I want with my time - I decided to sit outside in the serene, grey/green outdoor patio, and enjoy a  mid-day cocktail - yes, a real cocktail.  In broad daylight. With cognac.  (I swear I'm not alcoholic...)  At the servers' suggestion, and intrigued by the mention of a Chinese liquor that I only knew to be used to cook with (people drink it too, but it's strong and I've only encountered it as part of a marinade for Drunken Chicken), I went for the Yokohama Romance ($11) The drink is made with prunier vsop cognac, cherry heering, kaffir lime, lemongrass, shaoxing wine.  I placed my order knowing that this could easily be overwhelming, with two intense liquors fused into one cocktail.  It ended up being pungent, but fairly balanced and drinkable, and I liked the twist of lemongrass in the unexpected meeting of east and west in a glass.

As for the food - apparently I didn't do my research properly -  I figured there would be lunch specials, with items you can't get on the dinner menu, and at a more affordable price.

So I really appreciated the server's helpfulness - when I asked what items are different from the dinner menu, he very candidly let me know Pork Belly Lettuce Cups was the only item not really on the dinner menu; Steamed Fish was a lunch portion and served as a filet at $19 compared to dinner, where the entire fish is served (head, tail and fins on) at market price.

Of course after hearing that I had to go for the Pork Belly Lettuce Cups ($16) cabbage, crispy pig ear, thai chile, lime, mint, aromatic rice powder.  This reminded me of mushu pork (served in lettuce cups) but instead of ground meat there were decadent, fatty, tender and flavorful bite-sized pieces of pork belly, counterbalanced by lightly breaded and fried squiggles of pig ear and perfect, perky and crisp leaves of lettuce. Served with a cabbage slaw tossed with mint - and a bold sweet / tart/ slightly spicy chili sauce that took the whole dish over the top, in a good way.  LOVED this hands-on dish - even if the smell stayed on my hands pretty much the rest of the day.  Would go back on my next day off for this.

So, I should mention that the menu is broken into sections by portion size.  The Pork Belly Lettuce Cups were actually from the "Big" section and the portion was  enough to be a filling meal in itself.  But since I trekked all the way to Culver City, I figured I'd splurge on a second dish. 

At first I wanted to try the Bhutanese red rice (with lamb bacon!), but then I realized it was also on the dinner menu and not too bad of a price ($9) - something I could come back for another day.  So, I went for the Indonesian-inspired  Chicken Rendang ($15) - the dinner version is with Short Rib.  Though I normally don't like chicken unless it's fried - I'm willing to try it if it's pretty much marinated beyond all recognition and in a stew (minimizing risk of cardboard-like texture & taste).  Lukshon makes their rendang with malay spices, red chile lemongrass rempah, coconut cream - all of which sounded delicious. 

I loved the presentation on this one -  it's a matter of course, to serve this curry-like dish with rice, but Lukshon gets creative with their requisite carb by presenting it as 'fried rice' - rice formed into squares (shape inspired by ketupat, compressed rice cakes usually served with rendang?) and fried for a crunchy, salty shell with warm, chewy interior. 

I really liked the taste and texture of these squares, kind of like a hash brown, but made of rice instead of potato.  And they were fun to dip into the rendang.  However, I wished the proportions of rice and rendang were more evenly matched - I went through the three squares of rice very quickly, and then was left with a large bowl of rendang that was really too intense to 'drink' on its own.

I ended up taking leftovers home and pouring it over brown rice - it still held up fairly nicely the next day.

Lukshon is known for providing dessert on the house - and on this day I received a plate of bite-sized Black Currant Pate Fruit and Sesame Brittle.  Loved the ying/yang of sweet/savory, jelly-like and crunchy.

All in all, a lovely lunch at Lukshon where I got to live it up as 'a lady who really lunches', if only for the day. 

Not sure how often the menu changes or if they have a larger selection of lunch-only items on other weeks - I was glad to have been able to try it, and would come back another day for the Pork Belly Lettuce Cups.  But mainly I wish that Lukshon would extend their lunch offerings to weekends to give people access, who aren't lucky enough to work in Culver City!!!


On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 5.5 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Service - 6.5 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$$ (3 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 90%

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Lukshon
39 Helms Ave. Culver City, CA 90232
Ph: 310.202.6808

Lunch hours: Tues-Fri 12-3pm

Parking: Free parking in Helms Bakery complex

Website: lukshon.com
Look for reservations: lukshon.com
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Eat Real Fest - OFF (Organized, Free, Fun) the Hook!

'Carmageddon' turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to people who like to be out and about in Los Angeles - regardless of 'little' obstacles like possible doomsday style traffic congestion.  As warnings for the masses to keep their vehicles off the streets last weekend worked their magic on most of Los Angeles - those of us ready to pursue good eats, and great fun, no matter what it took, lucked out with a utopic state of free reign over the city's uncharacteristically clear roadways.

Although the closure of the 405 freeway should have impacted us San Fernando Valley dwellers the most - especially when trying to get to the Westside - emboldened by the clear streets on Saturday and armed with my handy free Waze app, I decided to take a chance Sunday and head down to Culver City for the Eat Real Fest.

It was the least traffic I have ever encountered during normal waking hours. And everything ran perfectly from there.  I was impressed immediately with how well the event was organized, especially for its inaugural year in LA. There were clearly marked maps of parking lots, and school buses serving as shuttles with frequent pickups throughout Culver City. At stops clearly marked with ERF signage. And all info was posted on the site for easy access well before the event date. All this for a festival that is FREE to attend - yes, FREE - and food for purchase at $5 a plate.

I had been excited about this event from the minute I first read about it  - it was to be a celebration of food in all the glorious ways that we interact with it, bucketed into 4 key categories: Eat, Drink, Make and See.  Not only were there gourmet food trucks (which are ubiquitous nowadays) but DIY workshops, talks and demos where you can learn everything from how to raise your own bees and chickens, growing your own mushrooms, making your own kimchi, to how to butcher whole pigs and smoke them at home.  It sounded like a fun weekend of tasting and learning - and as you'll see below it by far exceeded all my expectations!

EAT/DRINK: Since I had the Extravaganza for the Senses event to go to Saturday, that left Sunday for ERF.  My friend 'Designer' lives within walking distance of Culver City, spent all day Saturday at ERF - and liked it so much that she wanted to go back Sunday.  So she became a great tour guide for our group, making sure we took a strategic approach to maximize our experience: like hitting the Carlsbad Aquarium booth before they run out of their fresh shucked Luna oysters.  We only felt the slightest tinge of guilt, for all the shucking the owners had to do, when we ordered a dozen oysters EACH (3 for $5, 8 for $10, 12 for $18. So I guess the $5/plate price was the 'starting' price, which makes sense.  Still a great deal).  We got over the guilt quickly though as we tasted the incredibly fresh oysters - which one owner described as 'more briny than other oysters, with a bit of melon-like flavor'.  The first part was definitely spot on, but personally we could not really taste anything that resembled melon (which was good, we didn't really want any sweet flavors with our oysters).

It probably took the owners 10 minutes to shuck two dozen oysters for us, and about 2 minutes for us to scarf the plate down whole.
   
The ERF was spread throughout the Helms Bakery space, and had a great flow where sections were broken up into digestible bites.  So after oysters, we walked around the stalls in the immediate indoor space, checking out all the cool small batch, local producers - everything from spicy pickles to infused kombucha (fermented tea that tastes vinegary) to Jamaican Jerk sauce. 

In the outdoor sections were gourmet food trucks, beer gardens, a farmers market style stand offering stone fruit (bought some amazing pluots!) and stages with various musical performances or food demos, with giant haybales for seats.  At around 11am, at the Main Stage they had burlesque and salsa dancers - it was an unexpected thing to do so early Sunday morning, which sort of added to the charm of the performance and the randomness made it all the more fun and amusing!

One of my favorite outdoor demos was from Olio Pizzeria's Bradford Kent, who brought a mobile wood-burning oven (yes, you read that right), and demonstrated how to make pizza from scratch - offering of course then his fresh from the oven margherita pizza for guests to sample.  He also generously offered a home-cook version of his dough recipe to anyone who was interested - I can't wait to try both the recipe, and other pizzas at the restaurant!

MAKE:  Which brings us to another key bucket of activity at ERF: DIY workshops. The ones we attended were tons of fun - starting with the Watermelon Rind Pickling workshop - where we got hands-on to create jars we could take home.  Ours turned out pretty gorgeous, if we do say so ourselves. 

I will share the recipe in a separate post, to prevent this one from going novel-length!

There was also a pesto-making class, but I figured that would just be a lot of chopping, so we skipped in favor of seeking other eats.  Later in the afternoon, we checked out the Bitters class and learned about their history, how to make them at home, and of course had some handcrafted samples from our 'trainer'.  I thought the class was interesting, though I didn't have the taste buds to appreciate bitters outside of cocktails - it all tasted a bit medicinal, and um, bitter (duh!) to me.

SEE: Two really intriguing cooking demos were the pig butchery (which I'd already seen at a previous Artisanal LA show, really cool) and noodle-pulling (where a chef demonstrated techniques from 'knife flick' to 'handpull', then let us sample each so we can tell the textural difference).  There was also a 'how to smoke meat in your garbage can' demo, which we didn't attend but reaped the benefits of hours later, when a huge leg? of pork was rolled out  in its roasting box - and the chef carved out big slices for the crowd.  That pork was so juicy and full of natural flavor, that we shamelessly went back for third helpings (hey, there was a huge hind of pork and they weren't going to take it home!)

Other sights to see were cute farm animals from ducks to chickens to piglets, and various herbs and veggies planted in the display gardens. Oh, and live bands on two stages throughout both days!

Last thing I want to mention:  I really have to say event organizers did a stellar job with infusing every element of the event with a consistent message:  support the local, sustainable, green and eco-friendly.  There were the suggestions and incentives for alternative transportation, like bike valets and free shuttles.  There was a 'Zero Waste Zone' and recycling stations everywhere you turned.  Not only were the recycling stations split by compostables, landfill items and recyclables - there were volunteers manning each station to tell you which bin to put each type of trash in - so that it became a point of interactive learning as well. The event not only promoted a 'nose to tail' philosophy, but walked the walk with a 'farm to finish' approach to the experience as well as sort of educating people about how they could go green at the event.

All in all, one of my favorite events of the year and by far my favorite FREE event.  I loved that they had guest relations people on site taking surveys to get an immediate read on people's experience of the event, and asking questions about improvements they'd like to see - mad respect for that approach!  My answer to the improvement question: have more beverage sampler stations (to mirror the amount of food being sampled) and to hold this event more often!!!

ERF, hope we'll see you again very soon!!!

[See more pics from the Eat Real Fest in my photo album on Facebook!]

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Eat Real Fest
Saturday July 16 10:30am-9pm & Sunday July 17 10:30am-5pm

Historic Helms Bakery District
8800 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Event Website: eatrealfest.com
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Waterloo & City - All Aboard for the Best Happy Hour for Foodies on the Westside (CLOSED)

Waterloo & City is an unexpected name for a British gastropub, which has come to mean - to this blogger at least - an express train to the best Happy Hour for foodies on the Westside.

An instant classic that recently joined the ranks of 'affordable gourmet' stationed in the bourgeoning foodie mecca that is Culver City, the place is named after a a railway line in the London Underground (aka "the Tube") - that only services two train stations "Waterloo", and "City" (for London City) - which, according to the website, is where Executive Chef Brendan Collins' initiated his youthful adventures.

Waterloo & City's website also explains that it is a traditional British gastropub, which means "it has the relaxed, easy atmosphere of an English pub while serving extraordinary gastronomic cuisine."  This for me translates into gourmet 'for the people', incredible food without the pretentiousness - a concept that I love. 

Waterloo & City has taken a former greasy spoon diner located just a mile or so south of the emerging dining scene of downtown Culver City, and transformed it to a sophisticated yet laid back venue, creating an inviting space with a wide open layout that maximizes natural light and allows diners to enjoy the almost always gorgeous SoCal weather.

I personally love the hammered copper counter at the bar, which I have already made myself at home at on multiple occasions, for their abfab Happy Hour that runs DAILY from 5pm – 7pm (yes, that includes weekends!!!).

A selection of refreshing pubtails are offered at $6 during Happy Hour, which are regularly $10-$12.  I'm partial to The Westside - a mojito-inspired drink made with gin, watermelon, mint, and lemonade.  My friend, who recently returned from a trip to Italy with a newfound love for Aperol - was delighted to find that Waterloo & City is one of the few places that serve the liquor in L.A., in the form of Aperol Spritz - a pubtail consisting of Aperol, sparkling wine, club soda, and orange. Wine and beer of the day are also available for $5 or $4, respectively.  You can also order well drinks for $5 during Happy Hour.

The drinks are a good deal, but that for me is not what pulls me in to Happy Hour time after time - it's the amazing small plates and gourmet pizzas at just $6-$9 each (all but the cheese plate, which is $12 for eight cheeses).  Here are a few of the dishes that, at mere thought, have a Pavlovian effect on me.

Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Mousse
($7 at Happy Hour)

The Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Mousse, at just $7 - is an incredible deal.  The same dish at dinner would be $12.  Its smooth, creamy rich texture is offset by a sprinkling of coarse truffle and sea salt, and a trio of crunchy and sour sides (cornichon, pickled pearl onion, giant caper).  The slab is perfect - my only suggestion for this plate is to offer more bread, as 3-4 pieces is simply not enough for the amount of mousse, unless you intend to pile on an enormous mound to each slice.  Also, though it appears that the bread is fresh (there is a large amount of loaves sitting open in the serving area behind the bar - that don't look pre-packaged) - it tasted a bit too crusty.  Given the quality of the mousse, I would have expected the bread to taste at least at the caliber of La Brea Bakery bread.

Moroccan Spiced Lamb, Manchego cheese, Ras El Hanout
($9 at Happy Hour, $13 regularly)

The pizzas on offer are also amazing, with portions big enough to serve as meals in themselves.  Types of pizza change from time to time, but my favorites have been the unique Moroccan spiced lamb meatballs, manchego cheese, with ras el hanout (and an amazing sauce tasting of layers of spices I can't even begin to name), and the hynoptic wild mushroom with smoked mozzarella and truffle oil.  A steal at just $9 Happy Hour pricing ($13 regularly)!

Waterloo & City also offers tons of blackboard specials - both for drinks and food.  A recent highlight for me includes a jar of Hudson Valley Foie Gras Port Gelee and Armagnac Prunes, and Toasted Brioche.  One of these blackboards sit over the opening to the kitchen, another reason I love sitting at the bar - it's strangely mesmerizing to see the muted bustling in the kitchen, and the owners have showed that they pay attention to every detail - all the kitchen staff are wearing bowler hats, which gives the visual an idyllic, charming sort of '20s look and feel and adds a bit of whimsy to the dining experience.

Beyond Happy Hour, Waterloo & City also has a great dinner menu, with prices that are also fairly reasonable - though it is not as across-the-board consistently incredible as the Happy Hour menu. 

I was excited on a recent trip to see Steak Tartare on the list - served with truffle pork pate, quail yolk, and toast at just $13 for half portion, $18 for full.  Though the pieces felt a bit mashed together and overall just a tad too oily for my taste (I have yet to find a place to top the steak tartare at Petrossian, which is handcut, with a ribbon of caviar woven through) - it was a great deal for the price, and the quail yolk, which is hard to come by, was a nice (and tasty) touch.

Waterloo & City is also known for its charcuterie and terrines. 

As I was with my 'Foodie Mentor', another adventurous soul, for dinner one night -  we decided to try the terrine of pig trotters and sweetbreads, with salsa verde ($11).   It was divine, though the flavor and texture of the sweetbreads could have been highlighted a little more - it was a little lost in the overall terrine, in my opinion.   We also ordered up the "Commoner" chef's charcuterie plate ($17 - referenced as "Cured Meats Selection, Cornichons, Pickled Onions" on menu) - which came with prosciutto, salami etc. which all were amazing. 

Not entirely sure how we found room for additional dishes after the meat feast - but I did want to try the main menu - and my eyes immediately went to the Hand Rolled Tubes, Lobster, Fried Pork Belly, and Asparagus (small portion $14, full portion $20) since it was basically a mix of my favorite shellfish, favorite cut of meat, one of my favorite vegetables, and pasta!  Despite my high hopes for this dish, unfortunately the sum of the ingredients did not transcend its parts - it didn't feel like the various components came together in a cohesive way.  Frying the pork belly in batter ended up being sort of overkill - part of the beauty of pork belly is the lusciousness of the fat and the balance of that with the substance of flavorful meat.  Putting batter around the whole thing overwhelms the textures and flavors of the pork belly so that you really only register the fried shell, before biting into the meat and fat which then feels like an unstructured, greasy mess.  The pasta also felt just slightly overdone. 

'Foodie Mentor' wisely chose the Summer Truffle Capellini in Brown Butter and Parmesan (small portion $12, full portion $18) and thoroughly enjoyed the dish.  It was rich in flavor, but light and frothy in texture.

Regrettably, I haven't been able to find room yet to sample the desserts - but the menu looks very tempting, with Sticky Toffee Pudding and Panna Cotta among the highlights.  Maybe next time!

I have recommended this place to a wide range of friends and should call out here, based on a few of their feedback, that with the current slate of customers at Waterloo & City, that it is not for a rowdy crowd (I LOVE it all the more for this, but wanted to note for those looking to have a very lively Happy Hour where people mix and mingle to a throbbing soundtrack, or are looking for a typical pub scene, not to expect it here).  At the moment, the crowd skews towards the more mature - while you will see a smattering of late twenties and thirty-somethings at the bar and in the dining area, they are there usually as couples or small groups of friends/girlfriends, and outnumbered by those in older demos.  This may be due to the place being relatively new, and located in a more residential area where a family diner used to be - but I expect that as more people begin to discover this neighborhood gem (along with the addition of "The Wreck Room" complete with billiards, arcade game and darts) that you will start to see more of a mixed crowd. 

That said, Waterloo & City's Happy Hour is fantastic for the more sophisticated but laid back, people looking for good food and drinks at a great price, in an upscale but inviting space - perfect for foodies like me, and definitely my idea of the best Happy Hour on the Westside.   

On a 7 point scale:

Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 5 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100%

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Waterloo and City
12517 W. Washington Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Ph: 310.391.4222
Website: waterlooandcity.com
Twitter: twitter.com/waterlooandcity
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Meet for Moules Ten Ways

I'm a sucker for packaging, even of the virtual sort - so after perusing the photos on Meet's website, I was eager to test drive the dishes in person.  I also happened to have $25 worth of Dining Dough for the place, so with gift certificate in hand, my friend and I had our rendez vous at Meet for early dinner on a Sunday night. 

Based on the look and feel of the website, I was expecting a small, intimate yet sophisticated bistro.  What I saw when we arrived was 'cozy', alright - but at first I thought I had mistakenly gone to a pizzeria, or a mom & pop Italian eatery - with the restaurant's red and white checkered tablecloths and wooden chairs, and brick-focused decor.  We decided to sit in the outdoor patio, the better for people watching and less claustrophobic, for a balmy summer night in California (though the tables on the patio are still fairly close to each other - so that you can hear conversations at the tables next to you).  Brushing off first impressions of the decor, we were excited to see what savory treats the night would hold for us.

Having developed an addiction to beet salad after my recent euphoric experience at Magnolia, I decided to give Meet's Beets salad ($11.95) a try to see if it would give Magnolia's version a run for its money.  The description was straightforward, and lead to an expectation of a simple yet elegant and clean dish - "frisée, candied walnuts, warm goat cheese with honey champagne vinaigrette".  When the plate arrived, I must admit the presentation was not of the caliber advertised on the website - a tower of crudely stacked slabs of beets, two different colors, were topped by a pool of goat cheese (which congealed after sitting a few minutes untouched, since I was busy catching up with my friend).

For our entrees, we were both instantly captivated by the description of the Moulieres Meet ($18), mussels served in saffron broth with crab AND bacon.  Sounds like heaven, right?  This dish did not disappoint, arriving in a gigantic white ceramic bowl, with the mussels at just the right texture - soft, smooth and just slightly chewy, without any hard ridges - and a flavorful broth, with generous piles of crab and bacon that made it a very tasty and filling dish.  We were actually too full after this to get dessert (though the trio of profiteroles was tempting!)

My only other complaint about Meet is the service - while the waiters were very nice and friendly, and seemed to mean well - I asked for an Arnold Palmer when we sat down, and had to remind the waiter three times before they brought the drink over, which arrived halfway through my entree.  The place was small and definitely not at capacity, so it was a little disappointing that he simply forgot my drink order many times over.

All-in-all, not quite what I expected from a french bistro in the up and coming neighborhood of downtown Culver City - but not a bad deal for mussel lovers who want to explore variations on the classic Moulieres Marineres, and of course be sure to get your discount certificate from Restaurant.com first for an even better bargain!

Update Aug 2011: All-You-Can-Eat Moules Frites - Wednesdays for $23.95!  All the delectable mussels you can eat in any or all of the different styles - now there are 12 (they added two). My favs are: Bisque (in lobster broth), Thai (curry broth that sounds questionable on the menu but is not spicy at all and incredibly flavorful), and Provencale - all of these are so delicious I could pick up the entire bowl to slurp the broth after the mussels are done.  You wouldn't see my face at all for 10 minutes.  One serving of fries per order. 

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 5 bites
Presentation - 4.5 bites
Originality - 4 bites
Ambience - 3 stars
Service - 4 stars
Overall experience - 4.5 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 70%

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Meet
9727 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Ph: 310.815.8222
Website: meetrestaurantla.com
Twitter: twitter.com/meet_culvercity
OpenTable: Look for reservations
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