Category Archives: Silver Lake

December 30, 2017 · 2:48 pm

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2017

As we bid adieu to 2017, let’s just focus on the good stuff. And by “good stuff,” I mean the food we consumed to tantalize our taste buds, lift our spirits and provide a bit of pleasure in these ever-changing and uncertain times. Keeping with tradition, here is my annual list of the ten best things I ate and wrote about during the past year:

Shul Lung Tang (Korean bone broth) from Han Bat

10. Shul Lung Tang from Han Bat. Is bone broth a miracle elixir that will cure all your ailments, align your chakras and balance your chi? Probably not, but there’s nothing better than a hot bowl of this soup on a cold rainy day.

Pork Chop “Niman Ranch” from Salazar

9. Pork Chop “Niman Ranch” from Salazar. The penultimate dish on my top ten list is smoky, fatty and juicy. As excited as I am about this pork chop, I’m equally excited about using the word “penultimate” in my post.

Flaky Bread with Labneh, Preserved Lemon and Honey from Kismet

8. Flaky Bread from Kismet. The servers at Kismet are flaky and so is the hipstery restaurant’s best dish: a melt-in-your-mouth pan-fried bread served with labneh, preserved lemon and honey.

Banchan from Genwa

7. Banchan from Genwa. We all like free things, and the ridiculous amount of complimentary banchan (side dishes of fermented vegetables, fishcake, seasoned peanuts, braised beef, scallion pancakes and other Korean delicacies) at this Korean BBQ joint has the additional benefit of being exceptionally tasty.

Ceviche Tostada from Holbox

6. Ceviche Tostada from Holbox. How do you make an octopus laugh? With ten-tickles. The Ceviche Tostada at Holbox is a lot better than that joke.

Macarons from Ladurée

5. Macarons from Ladurée. The French know a thing or two about creating incredible baked confections. I know a thing or two about eating them.

Marinated Short Ribs from Chosun Galbee

4. Marinated Short Ribs from Chosun Galbee. I know what you’re thinking: Where’s the beef? It’s right here at #4 and it’s amazing.

Fresh Uni in the Shell from Jolly Oyster

3. Fresh Uni in the Shell from Jolly Oyster. Fun fact: uni is actually a sea urchin’s gonads. These gonads are especially delicious when eaten right out of the shell at the Jolly Oyster stall at DTLA’s weekly Smorgasburg.

Pastrami Sandwich from Ugly Drum

2. Pastrami Sandwich from Ugly Drum. “Oy gevalt!”…is something you will not be saying when you eat this pastrami masterpiece (which is also found at Smorgasburg).

Carrot Mole Enchiladas from Trois Familia

1. Carrot Mole Enchiladas from Trois Familia. You haven’t really had carrot mole enchiladas until you’ve had the ones from Trois Familia. They are insanely good and the best thing that I consumed and wrote about in 2017.

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Filed under Beverly Hills, Frogtown, Koreatown, Los Feliz, Mid-City, Silver Lake, South Los Angeles

Tagged as best la food blogs, best la restaurants, Best Los Angeles Food Blogs, Best Los Angeles Restaurants, Best Restaurants in LA, best restaurants los angeles, los angeles food blog, los angeles food blogs

August 8, 2017 · 11:59 am

Happy Breakfast to Me

Some people love breakfast. I am not one of those people. In ranking breakfast, lunch and dinner, breakfast comes in a distant third for me. This may be partly because I don’t love eggs or cereal, but mainly it’s due to my preference of getting extra sleep instead of having a sit-down morning meal. But if I am going to be dragged out of bed early on a Saturday or Sunday to meet friends for breakfast, then I’m probably going to insist we dine at Trois Familia.

Trois Familia is the third collaboration (after Trois Mec and Petit Trois) of three of LA’s most talented and inventive chefs: heavily tatted French bad-boy Ludo LeFebvre and the dynamic duo of elevated comfort food, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (of Animal and Son of a Gun). Located in a strip mall in Silver Lake, the restaurant has everything you want in a breakfast or brunch joint and many things you didn’t know you wanted: an eclectic menu of creative French and Mexican specialties, glossy white picnic tables, a display of vintage hula dolls over the counter, and a horde of Eastside hipsters queuing up to secure a table.

There’s icy cups of Horchata, edible asterisks of Maple-chili-glazed Bacon, hot plates of Churro French Toast topped with melty Salt & Straw Ice Cream and mind-blowing Carrot Mole Enchiladas. And to celebrate your success in getting out of bed and procuring such a delicious breakfast, you can end your meal with a yummy slice of Tres Leches Birthday Cake served with a lit candle. Singing and presents are optional.

Trois Familia is located at 3510 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles (in Silver Lake) and is open daily between 9am and 2pm. If you enjoy Consuming LA, please subscribe, like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter or Instagram @ConsumingLA at the top right of this page. And please forward to your friends!

A Bacon Asterisk! (Nueske’s Bacon with Maple-chili Glaze)

Carrot Mole Enchiladas with Crème Fraiche and Cilantro

Churro French Toast with Salt & Straw Vanilla Ice Cream and Mexican Chocolate

Crispy Hash Brown Chilaquiles, Sunny Side Up Egg, Cotija and Salsa Macho

Double Decker Potato Tacos, Lime, Crème Fraiche, Carrot, Pico and Jack Cheese

Horchata

A very hipstery brunch place

“French-Mexican Food”

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Tagged as best breakfast los angeles, best breakfast silver lake, best breakfast silverlake, best brunch los angeles, best brunch silver lake; breakfast silver lake, best brunch silverlake, breakfast silverlake, brunch silver lake, brunch silverlake, chicken mole enchiladas, churro french toast, Jon Shook, ludo lefebvre, tres leches birthday cake, trois familia, trois familia menu, Vinny Dotolo

March 26, 2014 · 10:22 am

Not Your Routine Poutine

Canada is the home of gold medal winning female bobsledders, an incorrigible rapscallion/pop star known as “J-Biebs,” and a corpulent crack-smoking mayor that bears a striking resemblance to the late great Chris Farley. But foodwise, the greatest achievement of our neighbor to the north is poutine.

For the uninitiated, poutine is Canadian fast food that originated in Quebec. It’s fries with a brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds. A good plate of poutine is salty and unctuous, and perfect for late night binging, noshing at a hockey game, and consuming while listening to the song stylings of French-Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion.

LA chefs, especially those at local gastropubs, have been obsessed lately with poutine and have lovingly put their own spin the dish. Below are some of my favorite non-traditional poutines served around town, with a couple of more classic ones thrown in for good measure.

Chicken Tikka Poutine

1. Chicken Tikka Poutine from Badmaash (108 W. 2nd Street in Downtown Los Angeles).

Bahn Mi Poutine

2. Bahn Mi Poutine from The Gorbals (501 So. Spring St. in Downtown Los Angeles)

Galbi Poutine with Pickled Kimchi Onions

3. Galbi Poutine with Pickled Kimchi Onions from Seoul Sausage (11313 Mississippi Ave, Los Angeles in West LA)

Pastrami Gravy Fries (with Beef Tallow Fries, Pastrami Bits Pastrami Gravy, Melted Swiss Cheese and Chopped Pickles)

4. Pastrami Gravy Fries (with Beef Tallow Fries, Pastrami Bits Pastrami Gravy, Melted Swiss Cheese and Chopped Pickles) from Plan Check Kitchen + Bar (1800 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles in West LA and 352 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles in Mid-City)

Truffled Poutine Burger

5. Truffled Poutine Burger from Umami Burger (Locations in Santa Monica, Studio City, Los Feliz, Mid-City, Hermosa Beach, Downtown, Burbank, Hollywood, Thousand Oaks and Pasadena)

Gravy Fried with Roast Brisket and Cheddar

Gravy Fries with Roast Brisket and Cheddar

6. Gravy Fries with Roast Brisket and Cheddar from The Bowery (6268 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles in Hollywood)

Poutine with Ground Beef and Sauteed Onions, Peppers & Mushrooms

7. Build your own Poutine (this one has Ground Beef and Sauteed Onions, Peppers and Mushrooms) at Jay’s Bar (4321 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles in Silverlake)

Smoked Meats Poutine with Curds and Gravy

8. Smoked Meats Poutine with Curds and Gravy from Little Fork (1600 Wilcox Ave., Los Angeles in Hollywood)

Poutine, Oxtail Gravy, Cheddar

9. Poutine, Oxtail Gravy, Cheddar from Animal (435 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles in Mid-City)

Poutine ÃŽle-du-Prince-Ã‰douard with Mussels au Gratin

10. Poutine ÃŽle-du-Prince-Ã‰douard with Mussels au Gratin from Soleil Westwood and P’tit Soleil (1386 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles in Westwood)

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Filed under Burbank, Downtown, Hermosa Beach, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Mid-City, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Silver Lake, Studio City, Thousand Oaks, West LA, Westwood

Tagged as animal poutine, Bahn Mi Poutine, best poutine los angeles, bowery los angeles, canadian food los angeles, celine dion, chicken tikka poutine, galbi poutine, jay's bar, jay's bar menu, justin bieber, p'tit soleil, petite soleil, poutine, poutine in los angeles, poutine los angeles, rob ford, seoul sausage, seoul sausage menu, smoked meats poutine, the bowery los angeles, the bowery menu, the bowery restaurant, westward soleil menu, westwood soleil

January 17, 2014 · 10:30 am

We Be Jammin’

Located on ungentrified Virgil Avenue in East Hollywood, SQIRL is an exceptionally good breakfast and lunch joint and one of the biggest hipster haunts in the city, packed with more vintage-clad, irony-obsessed, artisan-loving neo-bohemians than an organic food co-op in Williamsburg. The name of the restaurant is a combination of “squirrel” and “girl,” and refers to owner Jessica Koslow, a former producer of American Idol and a girl who “squirrels” things away by making jams and other preserves. SQIRL’S homemade jellies, jams and marmalades feature prominently in the menu and come in such flavors as Blackberry + Meyer Lemon, Pakistan Mulberries + Thai Magic Basil, and Moroblood Orange + Tonga Vanilla Bean.

One the best ways to sample the preserves is by ordering an obscenely thick slice of brioche toast slathered with nut butter and jam. While I love this open-faced PB&J, as well as SQIRL’s Malva Pudding, a decadent spongy caramelized pudding-cake, my favorite dish is their breakfast rice bowl. It’s unlike any rice bowl I’ve consumed before and made with Kokuhu Rose Brown Rice, Sorrel Pesto, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Lacto Fermented Hot Sauce, French Feta, Pickled Radish and a Poached Egg. It’s one of those perfect dishes where artisanal ingredients with disparate flavors are creatively fused together to produce something that seems both harmoniously simple and wonderfully complex. I’m completely obsessed.

SQIRL is located at 720 N. Virgil Ave., Los Angeles (in East Hollywood near Silverlake).

Kokuho Rose Brown Rice, Sorrel Pesto, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Lacto Fermented Hot Sauce, French Feta and Poached Egg

Kokuho Rose Brown Rice, Sorrel Pest, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Lacto Fermented Hot Sauce, French Feta, Radish and Poached Egg

Sunchoke Hash with Cheddar, Potato, Scallion and Fried Egg

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Pomegranate, Hazelnut and Lime Vinaigrette

Malva Pudding

Sweets for sweet hipsters

SQIRL, that’s my jam

Delmy You Love Me

Of the eighty or so weekly farmers markets in Los Angeles County, the biggest and best is the one that pops up every Sunday in Hollywood. Branching out in all directions from the intersection of Vine and Ivar, the Hollywood Farmers Market is the perfect place to spend an hour shopping for organic persimmons and sampling artisan goat cheese while listening to a heavily tatted hipster discuss fair trade co-ops with a dreadlocked neo-hippie. Musicians are scattered throughout, including a bluegrass band, a reggae drummer, a guy that makes music with rubber bands, and my favorite local hot jazz combo, The California Feetwarmers.

The prepared food section has a lot of great choices, but Delmy Pupusas is my favorite. Pupusas are a popular street food in El Salvador. They’re thick round corn cakes that are stuffed with a variety of fillings such as cheese, vegetables, beans, shrimp, chicken and chorizo, and cooked on a griddle until golden brown. Delmy serves these hot stuffed Salvadoran treats with homemade salasa, a spicy and vinegary cabbage relish called curtido, guacamole and some fresh crema. A couple pupusas make a nice hearty lunch and are best washed down with Delmy’s homemade horchata or agua fresca, which comes in several flavors including watermelon, strawberry, mango and raspberry. For dessert, I recommend an order of Delmy’s fried plantains served with a side of black beans and fresh crema. Muy delicioso!

Delmy Pupusas can be found at the Hollywood Farmers Market every Sunday morning and early afternoon and at several other farmers markets including Torrance, Downtown in Pershing Square, Atwater Village, Echo Park and Silverlake.