Tiara Cafe: Fashionably Fred
Freshwiches, vegan chic and cupcakes from Fred Eric, L.A.'s chef of invention
Eric’s Asian-tinged, pan-Mediterranean menu is still painted in 17 shades of farmers-market salad. There are bubbly, skateboard-shaped lengths of flatbread served with curried squash, preserved lemons and harissa, and a selection of “Freshwiches,” rice-paper rolls stuffed with spice-tinged “Thai” cobb salad, with grilled tuna and vegetables, or with shrimp, mangoes and Granny Smith apples. Low-carb and fat-free, Freshwiches are big with the perpetually fasting fashionistas that make up a big part of the clientele. A Cuban-style pressed sandwich is made with smoked duck and house-pickled cucumbers, and noodle dishes come both vegan and not — I suspect there is no system of culinary belief the kitchen cannot accommodate. You won’t find fried potatoes, but you will find crunchy sticks of chick-pea fritters that have all the sensations of a French fry. Eric’s famous corn dogs have been redubbed “hush puppies” and carry payloads of rabbit and Creole andouille sausage instead of wieners.
There are brawny, crusted little pizzas now, topped with things like burrata and heirloom-pig La Quercia pancetta, roasted eggplant and seitan, or goat cheese and chopped herbs. Eric is even presenting actual main courses now that Tiara is open for dinner, and his take on the Japanese trencherman’s classic of katsu with curry rice — made with crisply fried pounded chicken instead of pork, house-made curry instead of the packaged stuff, and a spicy tonkatsu sauce — is wonderful.
Location Info
Map
Tiara
127 E. Ninth St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Category: Restaurant > California
Region: Downtown
|
0 user reviews
|
Write A Review |
| Save to foursquare |
|
Related Content
More About
As at all of Eric’s restaurants, consistency is sometimes a problem. You may get a beautifully medium-rare skirt steak at the same time your mother-in-law across the table is getting one cooked to leather; the burrata on the pizzette may be a lovely, fluffy cloud of cheese or a sodden, watery mass. A forkful of food can be transcendently beautiful or not. The odds are with you, but it’s still a dice game. Still, at least it’s a dice game with tiny, exquisitely frosted cupcakes for dessert, and a meal that tastes like L.A.
Tiara Cafe, 127 E. Ninth St., dwntwn., (213) 623-3663. Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Beer, wine, sake and champagne only. Validated lot parking next door. All major credit cards. Recommended dishes: pizzette with La Quercia pancetta; smoked duckmedia noche; chicken “yaki katzu”; minicupcakes.
Now Trending
2012 - Food & Drink
