GOOD LUCK DELUXE

I have such an odd palate. Sometimes I really crave a certain cuisine and I’ll eat food from that region for months; then I’ll switch continents and do the same.

Six months ago, I couldn’t get enough African food. Whether it was North, South, East or West African food, I wanted it all. Now, not so much.

But give me a minute, because history tells me I’ll be swinging back to the Motherland any day now.

Lately though, I’m all about Latin food. I don’t care if it comes from Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela or Bolivia, it’s all I can think about.

However, Mexican food is kind of like Indian food to me. I don’t like all of it. I don’t even like most of it. But I will chow down on carne asada tacos and tamales faster than anything. Chilaquiles are a part of that equation, as well.

If you like nachos, you’ll LOVE chilaquiles!

Chilaquiles (chee-lah-KEE-lahs) are a traditional Mexican breakfast dish that consist of tortilla chips that are soaked in green or red salsa or mole, then broiled or grilled with a Latin cheese. Sometimes chicken or a fried egg are served on top.

Food & Wine has a great recipe for these:

Chicken Chile Chilaquiles

Serves 4-6

* 1 1/2 pounds fresh green tomatillos, —husked, rinsed and halved
* 2 large garlic cloves
* 1 large jalapeño, —halved lengthwise, stemmed and seeded
* 1/4 cup packed cilantro
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon coriander
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 pound shredded cooked chicken (3 cups), at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese (6 ounces)
* 1/2 cup farmers or cotija cheese (4 ounces)
* 1 scallion, sliced
* One 6-ounce bag tortilla chips (8 cups)
* 1/4 cup crema Mexicana, or crème fraîche

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeño and cilantro until smooth. In a large saucepan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the cumin and coriander and cook over high heat until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the tomatillo puree, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce loses its bright green color,
3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with 3/4 cup of the pepper Jack, the farmers or cotija cheese, scallion and half of the tomatillo sauce; season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, toss the tortilla chips with the remaining sauce.

3. Spread half of the chips in an 8-by-11-inch baking dish; top with the chicken and cover with the remaining tortilla chips. Don’t pack the chips down. Dollop the crema Mexicana over the chips and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup of pepper Jack.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is browned. Serve at once.

In Los Angeles, Pepy’s Galley, a fantastic old-school diner in Mar Vista, makes AMAZING chilaquiles. True dive food is to be had at Pepy’s! People flock from all corners of
Los Angeles to partake of Pepy’s chilaquiles.

And while I’m at, whenever you’re in the mood for a real turkey dinner, you MUST try the hot turkey sandwich at Pepy’s, too. Unbelievable.

Pepy’s Galley
12125 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 390-0577

I’m sure you remember my griping about what seemed to be a lack of enough ethnic eateries here in L.A. outside of Mexican food and sushi in comparison to Washington, D.C.

Well, I’ve been keeping more of an eye out for these treasures everywhere I go in
Los Angeles. I’m learning that if I want great Cuban food, I need to go to the Valley, and Venice Boulevard is peppered with Brazilian, Cuban, Peruvian and Salvadoran spots.
I even recently saw two pupuserias on Venice. There IS a God!

On Venice in the Culver City area, you can’t miss the huge sign that screams,
“WHOLE ROTISSERIE CHICKEN - ONLY $5.95!” that comes complete with a huge photo of a gargantuan, glistening rotisserie chicken on the sign.

You can only drive past that sign a few times without wondering what all the fuss is about. What takeout place would dare call THAT much attention to itself?

Enter Larco Mar, a Peruvian polleria and multi-Latin grill, and its connected
Coppelia’s Latin bakery - the latest targets of my affection.

But here’s the irony - the chicken was just so-so…even a little on the dry side.
I caution - if you are planning to dine at Larco Mar, ask for dark meat - even if you don’t normally eat that portion of the bird. Either that, or request a side of rotisserie drippings to soak your parched white meat in. Seriously, although Larco Mar’s bird is nicely seasoned with a hint of tarragon, it’s dying of thirst.

I wasn’t crazy about that spicy sauce they give you on the side, which was surprising to me, because you know I like my spice! I’ve had much better side sauces in other Peruvian chicken eateries.

If you enjoy a nice variety of Latin food, then Larco Mar is your place. They call their establishment primarily a Peruvian rotisserie, but in small print on their business card it says, “And Mexican Grill.” Then there was Cuban music playing overhead when I was there, and Coppelia’s features some Caribbean desserts. I think it would be less confusing if they would just simply call the entire shebang, “Latin Food Mecca.”

Anyhoo…

I say with emphasis, it was THE BEANS that warrant a return visit to Larco Mar!

Oh, those glorious beans - prepared Puerto Rican-style in a heavenly gravy.
I was pleasantly surprised that the beans were so tender, well-seasoned with a hint of smokiness and were totally saucy.

Next time, I will take it a step further and I’ll ask them for extra gravy on my beans. They tasted like someone’s Latina mother made them from scratch in a big pot. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Note: I should clarify that we’re not talking about refried beans here, people.
These were stewed beans…m’kay?

Carrying on…

The rice was eh. Seriously, I’m all about the beans at Larco Mar.

As if the ginormous chicken sign out front weren’t enough, they have a sidewalk sign boasting the Tres Leches cakes (my favorite!) in Coppelia’s adjacent Latin bakery.
It’s one-stop shopping at this place!

Here, take a look…

The cake in front looks mocha-ish…all creamy and dreamy.

I wasn’t in the mood to cause a big scene with my snapping pics of Coppelia’s sugary
Latin delicacies, so I just whipped out my trusty camera phone and my mission was accomplished in two snaps under the radar.

I wanted to venture over to the main dessert cases to take pics for y’all, but as I said,
I wasn’t up for making a dramatic production out of being a (beautiful) food blogger dining in their establishment.

The dessert cases shown above were almost empty because customers were coming in from every direction buying Coppelia’s cakes. I’ve never seen a bakery move that many confections in all my life! Coppelia’s obviously has a good thing going on with their cakes.

After eating a heaping plate of chicken, rice and beans (for only $4.95, by the way),
I was so stuffed I looked like a big grape. That meal was enough dense protein for a week!

There was no way I was packing in dessert after all of that. I couldn’t even consider taking a cake home because all I could think about was rolling home so I could be in my bed to let my food digest.

Overall, the food was divey, inexpensive and good. But next time, I’ll be back
for the cake!

Larco Mar Peruvian Rotisserie and Coppelia’s Bakery
10825 Venice Boulevard
West Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 838-0375

I recently took a look at the web sites and have read numerous reviews of the über-swank dining meccas, The Fat Duck in the U.K. by proprietor Heston Blumenthal, and El Bulli on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, by proprietor Ferran Adrià.
Both are notorious for their gastronomic appeal, of combining the art of food with science.

Although El Bulli has been named “World’s Best Restaurant” by Restaurant Magazine three times over (including this year), The Fat Duck is a close second on the list, including in terms of public hype.

Everyone’s been puffing up both El Bulli and The Fat Duck, and I thought I may as well throw my hat into the ring.

But there’s one problem: I don’t do trends. Ever. When magazines tell me a restaurant is all the rage, my brain’s amygdala shuts all systems down and I just freeze.

I. Can’t. Move. I. Can’t. Go. I can’t even consider going. This, of course, isn’t always the case. But usually it is.

I worked on babystepping it by at least allowing myself to peek at each of their web sites. No full-on commitment, nothing too intense, just a peek…

The Fat Duck’s tasting menu seems, oh I don’t know…kinda annoyingly la-di-da.
With culinary experiments such as Pommery grain mustard ice cream, snail porridge, salmon poached with licorice, Nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream, and blackcurrant and green peppercorn jelly, you better put that contrived mess in a Petri dish, NOT ON MY PLATE.

El Bulli boasts its “Kellogg’s paella,” a concoction of Rice Krispies puffed rice cereal with a sprinkling of seafood added for good measure. Or how about vanilla-flavored mashed potatoes? Frozen whiskey sour candy, anyone? Cocoa butter with crispy rabbit ears?

Call me unsophisticated, a Neanderthal, or unrefined if you want, but kitschy foodie stuff just doesn’t sell me. Neither do foodie awards, celebrity spottings, or hefty food bills.

Look, I fully understand the dining public’s insatiable craving for the nouveau, unusual, and exquisite, but I think I may be the only one who isn’t fascinated by either establishment.

I know I’m supposed to want to dine at both because of the big fanfare, but I’m not budging. I have my nerve commenting on restaurants that I haven’t even frequented, but whatever. Their menus and the foodie press made me do it!

Oh go ahead and say it - “Your palate just isn’t that refined yet…that’s all, dear.”
Oh, I’m so hurt.

I know my palate well enough to determine immediately if something is going to work for me taste-wise or not. I’ve dined at enough trendy-Wendy restaurants to know better. “Best” can be found in any city, in any neighborhood, cuisine, or price range.

In Anaheim: In terms of the “WOW” factor, my vote is still for the Anaheim White House Restaurant…and they just so happen to serve white chocolate-laced mashed potatoes. So NAH!

In Los Angeles: If you’re looking for a truly sophisticated Northern Italian Gastrobar experience (creative pairing of food with wines), I highly recommend my favorite in the area - Il Moro Ristorante. The owner, Elio De Santo, runs an excellent operation.
Every Tuesday from 6-8pm, Il Moro hosts a lovely wine tasting. You can also enjoy
live jazz (not the cheesy-sounding stuff!) at Il Moro every Thursday and Friday beginning at 8pm. Definitely worth checking out. Il Moro serves awesome salads,
and even better desserts!

Il Moro’s attentive, personalized service (but don’t be a Diva about it!) is the best I’ve had thus far dining in L.A.

Enjoy!

FYI, I will take a break from blogging for a few days soon - a mini-vacation. I’ve been
on quite a roll…and now, I need to take some time for me.

Luxury blogging releases such endorphins in my brain. I get all loopy!

I was doing a search for fantastic florists that sell white flowers (my favorite!),
and I somehow happened upon Anaheim White House Restaurant, by proprietor
Bruno Serato. Zagat rated this gem “Outstanding!” And I can see why!

Today I feel lucky to live in Southern California.

As you can imagine, everything about the establishment’s 12 dining rooms’ interior is gilded and white…even with white candles and flowers!

My eyes were especially pleased when I saw THEIR MENU.

It’s no surprise that Anaheim White House Restaurant also hosts
a lovely Sunday Champagne Brunch with a breathtaking menu.

I must also mention how remarkably pretty the food looks.

Behold this!

Rainbow Ravioli

Seared Ahi Tuna

Fontina and Prosciutto-stuffed Chicken with Artichokes

Dessert Tray with Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

I know I mentioned Mallorca Restaurant in Pittsburgh catering my wedding, but Anaheim White House Restaurant is the first restaurant that can actually give my beloved Mallorca a run for its money. Yes, they even have a catering division.
Decisions, decisions!

In the meantime, I might have to hire some contributing writers to help me cover the universe of posh. There’s so much luxury in the world and so little time!

Anaheim White House Restaurant
887 South Anaheim Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92805
(714) 772-1381

My mind really took a winding journey today.

Blogging about Ralph Fiennes and mentioning his penchant for naughty, impulsive trysts got me to pondering the allure of forbidden fruit in general. All of this led to my thinking of the Original Sin with Adam and Eve in the garden…and, well, that left me feeling utterly compelled to blog about figs.

So from Sir Ralph to figs, let’s commence!

Is there anyone alive who doesn’t love figs? They’re terribly good. This ancient fruit is pregnant with history, fable, folklore, and seduction.

Virtually every culture on earth has a passion for figs, and a plethora of fabulous recipes for showcasing and relishing them. Whether you cook with figs, smash them into a jam, or tote them along in your picnic basket with a crusty loaf of bread, some cheese and wine, you’re about to tap the heavenly dimension.

About Fig Fest 2007 in California
This Fig Fest will be held on Saturday, August 11th from 9 a.m. to Noon at the Vineyard Farmers Market, located at the N.W. corner of Shaw and Blackstone Avenue in Fresno. There will be sampling of fig-related food items from a number of restaurants, fresh and dried fig sales, and jazz music. Admission is $5 per person with the proceeds going to local charities. Visit the web site regularly (click above) for detail updates.

Fig Fest Menu
The Chef’s Table, Fig Garden Village
Palm & Shaw Avenue, Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 227-3200
$125 per person

Chef: Malachi Harland

Wine Spectator Magazine - Best of Award of Excellence 2005 & 2006

1st Course
Grilled pancetta-wrapped Black Mission figs with arugula/balsamic

2005 Thomas Fogarty Gewurztraminer

2nd Course
California swordfish medallions
Melted onions/port wine fig sauce

2005 Kale Hart Chardonnay

3rd Course
Chicken Cooked Under a Brick
Dried figs, green beans and toasted almonds with an olive vinaigrette
Potato gnocchi

2005 Boeger Barbera

4th Course
Fig Cloufouti
Vanilla citrus anglaise

2005 Lilly Pilly Noble Blend

5th Course
Gorgonzola Dolce
Figs with honey and candied pecans

NV Broadbent Madeira

If you can’t seem to find good-quality fresh figs in your local market or farmer’s stand, Trucco Direct is a great importer of amazing figs and other produce.

Everyone digs figs!

I like sushi just as much as the next chick. I’m not over the moon in love with sushi, but I enjoy it and do tend to have random sushi cravings from time to time.

I’m never the one at the table who orders all kinds of crazy fish. I usually just stick with the basics: salmon, spicy tuna, crunch rolls…and I may get jazzy and order clams, scallops, or shrimp.

The only squid I’ll eat is fried calamari (YUM!), so you can forget about me eating
raw squid. The same goes for octopus, eel, and all of that other scary stuff. Not your girl!

I want to give a nice shout out to a local “fast food” sushi chain we have here in
Los Angeles that is surprisingly really good…and consistently so.

SanSai has something for everyone!

What I love most about SanSai are their fabulous salads. Anyone who’s been there knows exactly what I’m talking about. Oh yeah, baby! It’s awesome that they give you a choice of two salads with each entree. Double satisfaction.

SanSai’s salads have such flavor and texture!

Like their Sumi Salad!

Shredded green and purple cabbage, julienne carrots, green onions, roasted almonds and sesame seeds tossed with SanSai’s own rice vinaigrette, and garnished with crunchy noodles.

…and their Oriental Salad!

Fresh baby greens, roasted almonds, and sesame seeds tossed with SanSai’s signature honey mustard vinaigrette, and garnished with mandarin oranges and crunchy noodles.

Don’t get me started on their Thai Noodle Salad!

Thin rice noodles tossed with shredded carrots, onions, red and yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, cilantro, with SanSai’s hot chili sesame oil vinaigrette.

Their Spicy Tempura Roll can’t be beat!

And for all you non-sushi eaters…

SanSai’s shrimp and chicken plate is delish. You’ll love the skewered veggies!

Let me stop before I post this restaurant’s entire menu.

I think it’s pretty clear by now what I think of this place. It’s cheap, GOOD sushi…
every time. How can you not love that?!

Years ago, in my culinary heyday, I came up with the most amazing chicken marinade that I made by mixing citrus juices with garlic and EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil).

I didn’t know then that it had a name, but now I realize that it was similar to a Cuban-style marinade, mojo criollo. My family LOVED this chicken!

Now that summer is fast-approaching, I realize some of you are itchin’ to try some new, fabulous grilling recipes. Never one to deprive my readers, I decided to do a feature on the best marinade in the world. Don’t you just love me?

Here in L.A., Versailles Cuban Restaurant makes a nice, tangy, very garlicky mojo chicken. It’s served with a side of Cuban black beans and rice and fried plantains
(that are a little on the overcooked side, but hey).

Versailles’ garlic chicken is a bit extra-tangy, but believe me when I say you’ll get used to it and will even have a craving for it later. How they get that chicken skin so perfectly crispy is beyond me!

For your grilling pleasure, I found this kickin’ recipe on RecipeZaar:

Mojo Criollo

1/4 cup lime juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 garlic cloves, pressed
salt, to taste
black pepper, fresh ground, to taste

1. Add all ingredients to a small jar, cover and shake for 2 minutes.
2. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
3. Use as a marinade for meats and poultry.

Or if you’re lazy like me and prefer an already-made mojo, click this pic to order yours:

You’ll want to kiss me after you taste this marinade. Hey, don’t kiss me…just invite me over for dinner.

I’ll bring the Cristal brewskis!

So I’m sure you remember our dilemma at a certain L.A. restaurant where I was about to have a stroke over my LoveBug not getting his bread.

Well, good news! Morels French Steakhouse did my LoveBug justice last night at dinner in that regard.

I really don’t have much to report about this bistro except that we were both pleased with the readiness of the carb-laden basket and dollop of softened butter.

Before we saw a movie at The Grove, LoveBug and I shared a Checca pizza at La Piazza, and I had a couple of Coronas with a lime, while LoveBug did the proper thing and drank a Peroni. So we were pretty stuffed.

No popcorn at the movies, though my stomach started rumbling from hunger after the beers. Alcohol always makes me famished.

LoveBug looked at me in shock when I told him I was still hungry after the movie.
But you know me, a girl has to eat. And besides, LoveBug prefers a woman who has what he calls “more substance,” something to grab onto. He encourages me to eat more.

This is the beauty of being in your 30’s, girls. Life only gets better.

So we grabbed a quick bite at Morels. It was pretty alright. Rushed service, but I had a decent enough meal to return to the establishment again. I had a wild mushroom omelette, a mesclun salad, and a bottle of Evian (it’s all they had).

LoveBug had a watery beet salad that he hated, though.

Oh well. You decide.

Morels French Steakhouse
The Grove, next to the fountain
(323) 965-9595

My tryst with Kate Mantilini lasted all of one hour. It’s the shortest
relationship I have ever had.

Here we have yet another dining establishment that is surrounded by big hype…and I fell for it again. But I’ll blame this one on LoveBug, since it was his bright idea.

This restaurant has been frequented by hordes of celebrities, including Mariah Carey.
I think we even sat at the same booth as the one she sat in once.

I know I said this before, but I am now fully realizing how much my camera phone sucks. I promise to keep my digital camera on me for emergency snapshots of my grub from this point forward. It’s a promise!

But I digress.

It was as cold as an icebox in the restaurant, the atmosphere was bland and sterile, service sucked, and our server had the personality of an eggplant. And just to throw salt in my wound, my food was cold!

LoveBug had good intentions. Really, he did. So I tried to grin and bear it. But I forgot that he reads my blog.

When I pulled out my camera phone, LoveBug goes, “You’re not gonna put this on your site, are you?” That’s code for: Can’t we ever just eat a freaking meal without critiquing it?!

“Of course this isn’t going on my blog, darling. Eat up.”

But he knew. He knows me. I can’t keep quiet about such things. Even he had a problem with the service, so all is fair in love and war.

I ordered crab cakes that came with coleslaw and seasoned fries. My crab cakes tasted funky…as in day-old, sitting out on the counter funky. But the fries were good.

LoveBug ordered the large Tricolore salad for us to share, and the rosemary chicken with sautéed spinach.

But get this: HE HAD TO ASK FOR BREAD!

Hold up.

My LoveBug lives in the gym! He has an awesome body. It’s fine if our server took one look at me and could tell that I’ve had one too many slices of cake lately, but LoveBug is a different story! He can afford to eat bread…and dessert, if he so chooses.

I wasn’t happy with this at all. Give my LoveBug some bread, daggone it!

I could go on and on, but you get the point. I told LoveBug at the beginning of the meal that I’m being good and staying away from desserts. I had planned to only finish off my meal with a cup of decaf. And as you know - for me, this kind of steely abstinence was
a first!

It turns out that I had the right idea. Who knows what a disaster dessert would have been at Kate Mantilini. You couldn’t pay me to dine there again!

For American eats in L.A., my suggestion is to head on over to The Grill on the Alley, Houston’s…or as a last resort - The Cheesecake Factory.

Even Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles would be a better alternative!

But I still love you, LoveBug.

The other day, I had lunch with a friend at Ummba Grill, a uniquely delicious Brazilian churrascaria.

I asked for a bottle of still water, and was expecting the usual brands. When the server brought two neatly-designed bottles of Llanllyr SOURCE water to our table, my curiosity was certainly piqued.

One sip and I was jumping for joy. FINALLY, bottled water that tastes clean. Most bottled water has some sort of aftertaste to me…whether from inorganic minerals, chemicals, or plain old invisible gunk floating around in it.

Llanllyr SOURCE is now my absolute favorite water, though it’s a bit hard to find. The world isn’t yet hip to its glory, but give it time.

So what makes this water so special? Here, I’ll let the Llanllyr site speak for itself:

“Llanllyr SOURCE is one of the world’s premium quality bottled waters. It comes from our sources beneath certified organic fields in West Wales in the United Kingdom.

We bottled our first water only a few years ago in 1999, but behind our highly contemporary product there’s a truly fascinating story that begins literally centuries ago!

We know the same sources have been providing drinking water for over 800 years because a Cistercian nunnery was established on the site in 1180 and it survived for over 400 years, The history of the site goes back much further than that though.

It may have been the stunning design of the original SOURCE bottle that first caught the market’s eye, but it soon became clear that it was the distinctively appealing and ‘clean’ taste of the water that was persuading sector leading restaurants, hotels and venues around the world to make it their water of choice. And it’s not just our opinion - SOURCE consistently leads blind taste tests and is endorsed by chefs in many top U.K. and overseas restaurants.”

Llanllyr SOURCE is a good water for non-water drinkers. If you hate drinking water, try Llanllyr’s pure water first before you make that claim. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

As for how in the world one should pronounce the name, the general consensus seems to go with, “Thlawnthleer.”

Call it what you want, but just don’t call me late for dinner!