BEST LOAVES TO LOVE
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El Pollo Inka
15400 Hawthorne Blvd.
Lawndale, CA 90260
Category: Restaurant > Fast Food
Region: South Bay
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Resolutely stepping away from the flavorless grocery store baguette that was once the grande dame of L.A. (La Brea Bakery, we mean you) is harder than it should be in a city with countless quality farmers markets, yet surprisingly few really good artisan bread bakers. This logic does not apply if you frequent one of the markets where La Boulangerie sets up shop a few days a week. Owner Thierry Warnier serves wood-oven charred baguettes, olive and raisin-walnut studded loaves, and country loaves with a crust-to-core ratio that’s as impressive as his thick country French accent. And then there are the tempting almond-studded croissants and buttery sweet rolls that you really shouldn’t be buying because you only came to get bread for dinner. Not to worry — Warnier will be happy to tear off a chunk of many of the loaves to sell. Proof that you really can still have your daily bread, even when your rent check is due. At farmers markets in Larchmont (Sun.), West Hollywood (Mon.), dwntwn at 1st. and Main sts. (Thurs.), Downtown Bank of America (Fri.), Echo Park (Fri.), Americana at Brand in Glendale (Sat.) and Calabasas (Sat.).
BEST DELI TO CUT THE MUSTARD
Jerry’s Famous is slicker, Canter’s is more rock & roll, Langer’s is in a more historically interesting location and Nate’n Al has a lot more industry juice, but Brent’s Deli, a somewhat under-known eatery deep in the Valley is the “Real Deal Holyfield” of old-school Jewish delis. Crowds of both suburban, non-”Hollywood” Jews and non-Jews who crave mouth-watering comfort food par excellence alike flock to this spacious, almost all-American looking establishment nestled in a strip mall for the corned beef, meat knish, cabbage soup, hearty breakfasts, twice-baked rye bread, matzo ball soup and “black pastrami” reuben. Servings are huge and the place bustles with a comforting, real-people vibe. 19565 Parthenia St., Northridge. (818) 886-5679.
BEST BRUSSELS SPROUTS? YES, INDEED
If you’re into high-falutin’ dining for cheap-ass prices, live it up at the W Hotel in Westwood, where, for $8, you can indulge in caramelized Brussels sprouts — offered as an appetizer — which more than suffices as a meal in itself. What makes them a gas is executive chef Monique King’s spin, derived from her stint as a line cook at Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger’s legendary, much-missed City restaurant. Her directions sound easy, except that you can’t replicate the dish at home. “I start them raw, which keeps them from tasting cabbage-y,” says King. “I sauté them in browned butter, then add toasted pecans, lemon juice, salt and pepper. After Brussels sprouts haters eat a couple bites, they remark, ‘It’s like candy,’ ” says King. It is. Keep costs minimal by avoiding the W’s $15 valet fee, and park on the street. If you’re Pasadena-close, you can enjoy the same dish sans pecans for $5 at King’s own restaurant, Firefly Bistro, as prepared by her chef-husband, Paul Rosenbluh. Nine Thirty at the W Hotel, 930 Hilgard Ave., L.A. (310) 443-8211, ninethirtyw.com. Firefly Bistro, 1009 El Centro St., South Pasadena. (626) 441-2443, eatatfirefly.com.
BEST GELATO AND MASTROIANNI
If you take gelato seriously in this town, then you know the drill: Brave the snarled knot of traffic into Pasadena, turn north and head up into the San Gabriel foothills until it seems as if you must surely have reached Mount Wilson, find a seemingly abandoned strip mall — all parking lot and the vague light from a Rite Aid sign — and wend your way through an outdoor patio until you find Bulgarini Gelato, a tiny store at the back of which Leo Bulgarini makes the best gelato this side of Sicily. During the summer, there’s even more justification to make the pilgrimage: On Saturday nights, Bulgarini sets up a buffet table and screens free movies outside, projecting subtitled Italian films onto the concrete wall of an adjacent building. Get yourself a plate of pasta, an espresso pulled from the copper Elektra espresso machine Bulgarini shipped from Rome, and a gelato — yogurt–olive oil, goat milk–prosecco, strawberry–black pepper sorbetto or blood orange–granita — and watch Mastroianni in Divorzio All’Italiana under the stars. I assure you, you will not miss the popcorn. 749 E. Altadena Dr., Altadena. (626) 441-2319.
—Amy Scattergood
BEST REASON TO SKIP THE DESIGNER CUPCAKES
Let others eat cupcakes. Lisa Olin and pastry chef Elizabeth Belkind of dessert-scene newcomer Cake Monkey are making scrumptious minicakes instead. These are multilayered, substantial, moist cake and creamy frosting–laden delights, big as a chubby toddler’s thigh, in flavors like raspberry red velvet; dark-chocolate mint; banana with toffee crunch=; and lemon custard with huckleberry preserves. They are almost too pretty to eat, but they are certainly impossible to resist. The same is true for Olin and Belkind’s “grown-up” versions of classic childhood treats like Ho Hos, Little Debbies, S’mores and Snowballs. In the Cake Monkey oeuvre, the cardboard dry Pop-Tart is re-envisioned as a toasty “Pop Pie.” Their elegant, foil-wrapped Black & White Cakewich — a chocolate-cake sandwich filled with vanilla cream and Valrhona crunchy pearls — is what a Hostess cupcake wishes it tasted like. Their pièce de résistance is the ’Nuff Said, otherwise known as “The Devil,” a chocolate crumble cookie with homemade marshmallow, pecans, caramel and sea salt. Satan himself employs it for the taking of stubborn souls. Order online for local delivery: (877) 640-CAKE (2253), cakemonkey.com.
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2012 - Food & Drink
