SON OF A GUN, WEST HOLLYWOOD

I was warned that I would find it too noisy at 'Son of a Gun'. At my first visit yesterday, I not only found it too loud, but annoyingly loud. I was simply impossible to have a conversation with my dining partner. Not that I have the desire of eating out in a church-like atmosphere, I like lively, but too much is too much. What's the point of having dinner with a friend if you cannot communicate and end up screaming at each other? I should have counted how many times I shouted 'what did you say?'. Unfortunately, we had lost our reserved table and had to sit at the communal table, because we were twenty minutes late. But I doubt, that it would have been much better at a smaller table.

I could have been appeased by great food, and was excited to be at seafood place, a rare thing in L.A. But unfortunately, the culinary mastery was limited. I felt like having been served home-cooked dishes by a bachelor who tries to impress a girl, but lacks experience and technique. We both went for the citrus salad, avocado, fennel, arugula, as a starter. There were lots of sliced citrus fruits like grapefruit and oranges, but so little avocado and arugula that I felt tempted to ask for a magnifying glass, and the fennel was completely missing. Too much citrus, guys! Way out of balance. This is not supposed to be fruit salad dessert. At least the seasoning was subtle and enhanced the flavors nicely.

After that we had mussels, Pernod, tarragon, fennel, toast. Those poor mussels were drowning in a thick, creamy, uniform tasting sauce. Where was the lemony-licory scent of tarragon? The anise-like taste of Pernod? Was there any starch mixed into the sauce for it too be so thick? And why salt the sauce generously when mussels have a natural salt content? And please don't make that toast so greasy! I would have liked the menu to mention the cream sauce, since I expected a light, mediterranean wine sauce. Ok, I could have asked, but it did not occur to me. It's always good to be given a lot of information to be able to make the right choice.

We also tried the Idaho trout, carrot, potato, caper dill butter. It was dry, boring and tasteless. Did they mention a caper dill butter on the menu? What can I say? Uninspired? Lazy? Do-not-care?

We gave the desserts a try and went for the frozen lime yogurt, graham crumble, toasted meringue. The yogurt lacked creaminess and was too sweet, but otherwise the dessert was ok and perfectly sized, the toasted meringue even very good.

As for beverages, I had a glass of 'Crémant du Jura' a sparkling wine from the French Jura region. I usually like the light Crémant, but the one served at 'Son of a Gun' was bad, real bad. Flat and tasting like cheap cider. And this for 18 Dollars a glass! My friend's Pinot Noir was good, but the 17 Dollars a glass were also quite steep. 

I liked the concept of serving small portions, for guests to playfully taste different dishes.

Still, my final verdict: the cuisine is too amateurish to be taken seriously.

Nice maritime-theme decor, though.

RAS EL HANOUT

A dear friend of mine just came back from Paris, where she had stayed a couple of months. She was living in an Arab neighborhood and bought lots of exotic spices in large plastic bags, and then filled used small Campari bottles with different spice mixes to gift her friends. Mine was hand labeled 'ras el hanout'. The spice mix is an old ingredient in the Moroccan cook's battery of seasonings. When I inhaled the mingled aroma, I felt like walking through a souk at sunset. Ras el hanout literally translates as 'head of the shop', and as the story goes, it is a blend of as many as 100 exotic spices. Usually it's made with fewer than 100 or even 40 spices. Some of the ingredients include cassia (a cousin of cinnamon), nutmeg and its lacy orange covering, mace, green cardamom pods, turmeric, allspice berries and sometimes paprika (like me version, hence 'rouge' for red). There is also long pepper that has a tingling effect on the tongue. The fiery rush that occurs when inhaling the spice mix comes from a pale dried root which appears to be galangal, a ferociously pungent member of the ginger family. When these very distinct ingredients are pulverized  to a fine powder and mixed, they create an aromatic blend that lends a divine perfume to dishes like tagine, stews, chicken or hearty meats. It's never used with fish, it would be too overpowering.
What a great addition to my pantry!

I WILL NEVER KNOW HOW GOOD THE FOOD AT ANIMAL REALLY IS

NOTHING

First attempt to have dinner at Animal: leaving tons of messages, no one calls back.

Second attempt to have dinner at Animal: leaving a couple of messages, before someone finally gets back to me. We get a reservation for the next Thursday evening. The day before I get a phone call from the staff at Animal barking at me why the hell we wouldn't show up. Um, it's WEDNESDAY, guys, I replied.

Third attempt to have dinner at Animal: I have an assignment for a magazine to write about the five most exciting restaurants in L.A. I contact Animal's publicist several times, before I get acknowledged. And then nothing happens.

No more attempts to have dinner at Animal.

Eggplants with chèvre – a delicious appetizer

Recipe serves 4

Ingredients:

2 eggplants

olive oil

a generous 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes

fleur de sel

2 tbsp aceto balsamico

1/2 pound chèvre or buffalo mozzarella

a handful of basil leaves, plucked into small pieces

Preparation:

Cut eggplants in slices, about 1/3 of an inch, brush generously with olive oil.

Place the slices on a baking sheet and bake them on both sides for about 10 minutes at 400 F until a golden crust forms. Let them cool on a paper towel.

Cut cherry tomatoes in halves, place them into a heat resistant  dish, drizzle generously with olive oil and bake for 60 minutes at 200 F.

Sprinkle with fleur de sel and the aceto balsamico, roast for another 60 minutes in oven, let them cool.

Place one eggplant slice on 4 individual plates. Add tomates. Cut chèvre or bufflao mozzarella in slices and individually place on top of eggplant. Add basil leaves, fleur de sel and pepper from the mill. Sprinkle with a little olive oil. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Serve at room temperature.

I LOVE MY BREAD!

I am currently in Europe and have been shopping at this bakery (see picture above) in Zurich, Switzerland, an experience that immediately catapulted me into bread nirvana. Look at those beauties, at the incredible variety! Trying to describe the different breads, I feel that I ultimately will be failing. How will I ever be able to describe breads, that are so different from what we know in L.A.? Unfortunately, American bakeries seem to take their inspiration mostly from the French and Italian baking traditions. While France and Italy are undisputedly great food nations, they are somewhat limited in their bread making. Sure, who doesn't love a baguette or a ciabatta, but looking into the German baking traditions that is prevalent in Switzerland, opens up a whole new bread world, that, trust me, goes way beyond the hard-to-love Pumpernickel. It's a world filled with artisanal breads, each carrying intense flavors that remind me of the fifth taste Umami. Bread making is not difficult, but it's an art, where the perfect ratio of water, yeast or sourdough, salt and flour matters, where the kneading method has a crucial impact, where a puritan approach using a simple recipe and the best ingredients (NEVER using industrial flour) is key, and where the baker has to be not only patient, but in tune with the forces of nature surrounding the bread making process. I wish, hope and pray that L.A. will soon have bakeries sprinkled all over town that celebrate bread as the most elementary and most wonderful culinary pleasure. Breadbar, Le Pain Quotidien and the original La Brea Bakery are a good start, but we could even do better. A lot better.

All you need to know about a really good espresso

One of the sad stories in the L.A. culinary world is the espresso. Better: the absence of a really good espresso. It just seems to be inexistent in this town. And unfortunately, since there is no real understanding of what an outstanding espresso is all about, no one really notices. Or complains. But that's what I am here for...

Espresso is more than just coffee. First of all, you have to understand the important distinction between 'brewing' coffee and 'extracting espresso'. An espresso is just a couple of sips of deep-brown extracted liquid (actually an emulsion since it contains oil from the beans) served in a very tiny cup, not bitter-tasting, but rich, complex and lingering on your tastebuds for a couple of minutes. How many bitter or burnt-tasting espresso (espressi in italian) did my palate have to endure? I am better not counting...

So, what makes a good espresso?

1. There is no way you can make a good espresso unless you start with good coffee beans correctly roasted and packed. The best coffee for espresso is made from Arabica beans, and I stress Arabica ONLY! Forget about the stuff from Starbuck's, Peet's or any other supermarket brand, go for a specialty brand like Illy. 

2. Perfectly roasted coffee beans, and that doesn't mean super dark-roasted! A very dark roast only destroys the subtle flavors. Medium-roasted coffee beans, stored at room temperature in a dark, airtight container, are the secret. Humidity, light and oxygen are BIG enemies of coffee.

3. What many people ignore is the importance of grinding. A good, fine grinding is crucial for a good espresso. An inexpensive non-professional grinder will burn and therefore ruin the coffee beans. Unfortunately many professionals use a cheap, bean-burning grinder. The whole grinding stuff is tricky: if the ground is too fine the water can't get through, but if it's too coarse, the water will flow through too quickly. It needs to be just right.

4. You can't make good coffee without the right water. It has to be low in calcium, magnesium or other minerals that not only inhibit the pressure of the pipes in the espresso machine after a while, but will affect the taste too. 

5. To make the perfect espresso, only little (max 7 gr) of coffee should be used, and it needs to be tamped using up to 15 kg of pressure.

6. A perfect espresso should take 20-25 seconds to extract under 8.8 atmospheres of pressure. Don't call me a nerd - the pressure is very important and should be checked constantly. A thick, creamy hazelnut brown top, the so called crema, should cover the espresso protecting a perfectly balanced taste of sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami and display aromas of chocolate, butter, puff pastry and more. 

Now that you know what a good espresso is all about, go out there and DEMAND it.

BREAKFAST AT THE SPORTSMEN'S LODGE, SHERMAN OAKS

Lured by the nice looking makeover at the Sportsmen's Lodge, favorite hangout of Hollywood and Rock'n'Roll celebrities in the 60s and 70s, I decided to pack my husband in the car and treat him with a Sunday breakfast at the Lodge's Patio Café. I have to admit that I have a fondness for rustic, dated decor, and with the few, recently added touch-ups, the Sherman Oaks legend looked quite appealing and in no way uncomfortably overdone. The place keeps true to his values, you could say. My first order of a freshly squeezed orange juice quickly uncovered a misunderstanding: I thought that the staff would squeeze fresh oranges in the kitchen, but was proven wrong at the first sip. When asked, the waiter insisted on 'freshly squeezed', informing me that this was what the package said, while laughing at the absurdity that they actually would do something like cutting oranges in half and SQUEEZING them. Well, I learnt my lesson. Then we ordered Eggs Benedict and Huevos Rancheros. The kitchen's philosophy of using pre-pepared, packaged OJ translated into their food as well, I could taste and smell artificial flavors and the distinct metallic taste of canned food all over the dishes. The worst being the almost inedible, tough ham and a super dry, strange tasting biscuit under the eggs benedict. Well guys, you lost me there. I will happily go back to the Sportsmen's Lodge for drinks at the bar enjoying the charms of the good old days, but for food? No thank you. Not for me.

LARCHMONT BUNGALOW - A HOME AWAY FROM HOME

I haven't been in the Larchmont area for quite some time, which is a shame, since Larchmont Boulevard is such a charming place with lots of nice shops, restaurants and cafés. LARCHMONT BUNGALOW artisan café embodies the neat small-town feel –  it's so cozy you feel right at home. They serve breakfast all day long and fancy classic American fare such as Mini Burger Sliders, Bison Chilli Burgers, Lobster Crab Cake Sandwich,  Southern Fried Chicken Wrap, and the famous Red Velvet Pancakes. It's all fresh and really good. At LB they offer their own blends of organic, sustainable coffee as well as single origin roasts of exceptional good quality and teas that are custom crafted. I was happy to discover a lovely outdoor space with lots of tables and enjoyed some warming winter sun rays along with a long chat with a friend.

Food that makes me happy

When my friend Richard, a food scout for one of the best delicatessen stores in Europe, toured California in search for the best products the Golden State has to offer, he came back to my house his car loaded with delicacies. While all the treasuries were blissfully good, I especially fell in love with the preserves made by Happy Girl Kitchen in Pacific Grove near Monterey. Good heavens! How could I ever live without the pickled spicy carrots, classic dills or the apricot summer jam, which I swear, is the best I had in my life. And I don't say this lightly. Of course, I was miserable when I looked at all those empty jars after splurging on their content. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Happy Girl Kitchen Products in Los Angeles. Until now. The Marketplace at 'Sweet Butter Kitchen' in Sherman Oaks has stocked up their shelves with tomato preserves, and Leslie, the owner, promised to order the pickles and jams in the new year, too. Thank you, Leslie!

Ottolenghi - simply delicious

One of my favorite cookbook discoveries in 2010 was Ottolenghi The Cookbook. Ottolenghi is the iconic London-based restaurant run by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Their simple yet inventive dishes are inspired by their respective childhoods in West and East Jerusalem, and they draw from culinary traditions ranging from Persia to California.

Today I prepared their aubergine*-wrapped ricotta gnocchi with sage butter. A great dish for a California winter evening:

1 small to medium aubergine

4 tbsp olive oil

20 g unsalted butter, melted

15 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Ricotta Gnocchi

30 pine nuts

250 g ricotta cheese

2 free-range egg yolks

35 g plain flour

40 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tbsp chopped basil

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

a good grinding of black pepper

Sage Butter

90 g unsalted butter

20 sage leaves

a pinch of salt

1/2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

1. Place the pine nuts in a small frying pan and dry-roast over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring them occasionally so they color evenly. Transfer to a large bowl and add the ricotta, egg yolks, flour, grated Parmesan, herbs, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir well, then cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 180 C. Trim the top and bottom off the aubergine and cut it lenghtways into 5 mm-tick slices; you will need 8-12 slices, depending on how many gnocchi you make. Lay the slices on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and brush liberally with the olive oil. Place in the oven and roast for 10-15 minutes, until tender and golden.

3. To shape the gnocchi, wet your hands and scoop out 40-50 g portions (about 3 tablespoons). Roll into 8 or 12 elongated barrel shapes. Meanwhile bring plenty of salted water to the boil in a large saucepan.

4. Carefully add a few dumplings to the simmering – don't cook them all at once or thy will stick to each other. After about 2 minutes, they should rise to the surface. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a tea towel to drain. Pat dry with kitchen paper and brush them with the melted butter.

5. Once the gnocchi have cooled down, take a strip of the aubergine and wrap it around the center of each one, like a belt. Trim the aubergine so that the seam is at the bottom. Place the gnocchi in a greased ovenproof dish and set aside. You can cover them with cling film and keep them in the fridge a day at this stage.

6. When ready to serve sprinkle the gnocchi with the Parmesan and bake in the oven at 180 C for 8-10 minutes, until they are heated through.

7. Meanwhile, quickly make the sage butter sauce, as it needs to coincide with the gnocchi. Place a small saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the butter and allow it to simmer for a few minutes until it turns a light golden-brown color and has a nutty smell. Remove from the heat and carefully add the sage, salt and lemon juice, if using. Return to the heat for a few seconds to cook the sage lightly.

8. Divide the gnocchi between serving plates, pour the hot butter on top with a few sage leaves and serve immediately. 

Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course.

* aubergine = eggplant

convert heat, weight etc.

ONLINE CONVERSION

ARTISANAL CHEESE HEAVEN

Lured by the concept of custom building your burger, I had lunch at The Counter in Pasadena last week. It was a horrible food experience, and I will never ever set my foot back in this place. But there was one wonderful thing about my visit at The Counter: while miserably munching on my burger, I discovered the Pasadena Cheese Store across the alley. Of course, I had to go over and check it out. O.M.G.! This recently opened cheese store on Shoppers Lane is cheese heaven. Move over Silverlake Cheese Store and Beverly Hills Cheese Store. It is now in Pasadena where they offer the absolutely best artisanal cheeses from the greatest cheese producing countries on the planet like France, Switzerland, Italy, England, Spain and also some great ones made here in the U.S. I was especially enchanted to discover Caroline Hostettler's selection from Switzerland. I have known Caroline for a very long time, and I can tell you that she has uncompromisingly high standards. Her cheeses are simply the best Swiss artisanal cheeses you can get. I spent a small, well spent fortune on Appenzeller Sélection Rolf Beeler, Fourme d'Ambert, Montbriac, Crottin de Chaignol and Tomme Crayeuse – all so good, it made me cry.

SUNDAY SUPPER

Sunday Supper at Lucques:

fennel and endive salad with green olives, parsley and meyer lemon cream – absolutely lovely, fresh as it can be (the endives were super crunchy), a wonderful fruity, slightly tangy dressing, amazing green olives

grilled market fish with cauliflower rice and hot saffron-ginger-tomato sauce – perfectly grilled pink snapper, crisp on the outside, very moist in the inside (congratulations), rice and cauliflower is a surprisingly good combination, and the saffron-ginger-tomato sauce was a exciting dance of flavors in the palate.

olive oil cake with candied tangerines, crème fraîche and pistachios – I liked the candies tangerines and the lovely crème fraîche, but wasn't too crazy about the olive oil cake. not because it wasn't well made, but personally I don't like cake for dessert. it would have been a perfect match for an afternoon tea.

clearly at Lucques they deeply care about food and their love for outstanding products is enchanting. too bad the staff was utterly disimpassioned. nothing really to complain about. it just wasn't fun to be around our waitress pulling a face all evening.

ARTISAN TOFU

I followed the advice of my fabulous health practitioner and drove all the way to Gardena to get some of what he claims to be the best tofu in California, if not the whole country, Meiji Tofu. Meji makes its tofu - regular, soft and zaru (in a pretty bamboo basket) - fresh every morning from non GMO soy beans and uses no preservatives. It's not only super fresh, but has supreme, outlandishly wonderful taste and extremely silky texture that almost melts in your mouth. It's absolutely fantastic plain with maybe a little sauce to your liking, but I am also excited to experiment with it. I never want to go back to regular supermarket tofu again, which sucks since I now will have to drive to Gardena on a regular basis.

FARMERS MARKET CHEATING

Last week a manager for Southern California's largest farmers market operator claimed at a state hearing held by the California Department of Food and Agriculture that Mexican produce was sold as local. A vendor, he said, buys wholesale and misrepresents it as his own. So all the chatter about wholesale products at farmer's market is now official. Just from my experience buying at different farmers markets, this does not really surprise me. Often the 'local' produce is not as fresh as is should be and doesn't taste accordingly. A couple of weeks ago, I became a shareholder of the Silverlake Farms/CSA program, allowing me to pick up seasonal produce sustainably and locally grown in Los Angeles. This is the best produce I have ever had in L.A. It reminded me of how easy it is to forget the taste of farm fresh and healthy vegetables and fruits. But now that I have my 'fresh taste' back, I am not willing to compromise any more. 

BOUCHON - A PLEASANT TRIP TO BEVERLY HILLS

A recent lunch at Thomas Keller's BOUCHON BISTRO in Beverly Hills turned out to be a very pleasant experience. Even though I don't care much for the overly sleek buildings like the one Bouchon set up its operation , the interior of the bistro was elegant in a nice way, lacking every tackiness, which had a lot to do with it not trying to be French, but rather be inspired by it and admitting to be Beverly Hills. Also, my friend and I felt in good hands with the outstandingly knowledgeable staff. Those guys really know their stuff. Since I wasn't extremely hungry, I settled for a salad and a soup. What can I say? It was perfect. The Watercress & Endive Salad with Roquefort, toasted Walnuts and Roquefort Dressing, was extremely fresh and crunchy, the dressing enrobed the greens in just the right amount and the walnuts complemented the salad in with sprinkles of earthy, intense flavors. The highlight, though, was the velvety pumpkin soup. I have rarely eaten a soup so well rounded - sweet and savory, very smooth and a little meaty, substantial and almost volatile at the same time. The seasoning was absolutely perfect - not a grain of salt of pepper too much or too little. I will definitely go back, not only because of the food, but because it's the perfect place for feeling special.

APPLE DREAM

 

I just read Kevin West's post on his wonderful home canning blog "Saving the Season" about his road trip to the apple-growing community Oak Glen in the San Bernardino Mountains. His bountiful apple harvest brought back memories of the "Crème aux Pommes" - a dessert made with apples - my mom would make. I loved this light, fruity dessert so much that I would eat the whole bowl that was intended to feed our family of four all by myself. Needless to say that they were not amused...Here's the recipe!

2 pounds aromatic apples

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 vanilla bean

1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon corn starch

zest of one lemon

Peel, core and slice apples approximately 1/4 “ thick. Toss apples in a pan add water and sugar. Cook until tender. Drain water. Purée apples with mixer. Add some drops of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Separate eggs. Put egg whites aside.

Put egg yolks in a bowl. Slice the vanilla bean open and scratch out the seeds (you can use vanilla extract if you prefer), add to egg yolks together with confectioner’s sugar, corn starch, lemon zest and whisk everything together until the egg yolks are frothy. 

Incorporate egg yolk mix to puréed apples.

Beat the egg withes until they form peaks, and carefully add beaten egg whites to the apple mix. Volià!

Now you can serve the “Crème aux Pommes” in cups or glasses and add a dollop of whipped cream.

A BREAD STORY

It always seemed a mystery to me, why American bread often tastes like chemically treated paper mache, leaving me longing for those wonderful breads I grew up with in Europe. Now, I might have found an explanation: As Abby Franke from Stone Ground Breads in Agoura Hills explains in a piece recently published in the LA Times, freshly milled flour is known in the milling industry as green or "unaged" flour (a reference not to the color but to undeveloped gluten in freshly milled flour). And flour must be "aged" for several days or even weeks to strengthen the gluten that comes from the flour so that breads proof properly. "If you use flour you just milled, the bread will be dense, and not the best flavor," he says. "But a lot of commercial flour you buy is aged unnaturally with chemicals that don't taste good either." It's those damn chemicals!

PAPPARDELLE!

After my better half has been complaining about the fact that I never use our pasta machine (a Marcato Atlas), I carried with me from Europe, I took the chrome plated, antique looking pasta maker out of one of my kitchen cabinets, and gave it a try. After all, nothing beats fresh, hand made pasta! I fiddled around with different flours (bread, all-purpose, Italian 00, semolina) to create the best dough possible, and came up with the following recipe:

3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup of semolina flour

5 large eggs

1 generous teaspoon salt

I mixed the two flours and the salt together, poured it on a working surface, and made a large hole with a spoon right in the middle. I broke the eggs into a a bowl, whisked them together with a fork, and then poured the eggs into the hole. Then I slowly added flour from the edges onto the egg mix  and carefully started kneading, then continued to knead more forcefully, until the dough was smooth and elastic, which should take about 10 minutes. Of course, you can use a food processor, but I love the sensuality of working with my hands.

I formed a ball, wrapped it into plastic and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Then I cut the ball of dough in 1/4, covered and reserved the pieces I wasn't immediately using to prevent them from drying out. I dusted the counter and dough with a little flour, pressed the dough into a rectangle and rolled it through the pasta machine, starting at the widest setting, that would be No. 1 on the Marcato Atlas, reduced the setting to No 2 and cranked the dough through again. I repeated the procedure up to paper thin No. 8 (you can go up to No 9 if you like your dough super, super thin). I dusted the sheets of dough with flour as needed. Since I love pappardelle, large, broad, almost an inch wide, fettuccine, I first cut the edges of the dough sheets straight and then into pappardelle stripes. That's really easy to do. 

Now, what's really IMPORTANT is that you have a pasta drier rack ready (see picture above) to be able to hang your pappardelle to dry. This is really crucial, because that way you prevent your freshly made pasta from sticking together, and trust me, once they stick together, you won't be able to separate them, and all your hard work would be in vain.

Once properly dried I toss them into salted boiling water for a minute or two, until al dente, and serve them with a simple home made heirloom tomato sauce or with olive oil, shaved truffles (or truffle oil) and Parmiggiano!

C(H)OCKAIGNE

Since 2004? Six years? I cannot believe that artisan chocolatier Valerie Confections has been around that long, and I haven't known about it. I lived in total oblivion, not having a clue about the existence of outstanding chocolate creations only fifteen minutes away from my house. Valerie Confections is by far the best chocolatier I have come across in Los Angeles. 


When I visited their store/shop last week, they were extremely gracious, letting me sample generously. I was convinced of the outstanding quality of the chocolates at first bite. Rounded flavors, beautiful aromas, sooth texture and lovely compositions like rose petal passionfruit truffle or peanut toffee with sea salt. At Valerie's they also understands that a rich, intense product like chocolate confections, only is a pleasure when made small.


At Valerie's it's all about high-end chocolate and its layered aromas, and I went crazy for their toffee creations. I am now extremely curious about their cakes. But since you have to pre-order them 24 hours ahead, I left the shop with unfinished business, and I will have to plan the whole cake-tasting thing accordingly.


I'll keep you posted, promised!

Valerie Confections

3360 W First St

Los Angeles, CA 90004

MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE!

This week I had dinner at Bastide. Lovely atmosphere, great service, good but not outstanding food. Not good enough for the prices they are asking. But there was something else that started irritating me while studying the menu. I felt that something essential was missing there: information about where the products they use in the kitchen come from. Are the eggs from a happy small flock of chickens raised on a sustainable family farm? Are the vegetables local and organic? Has the  beef grazed on lush green pastures all year long? What's the name of the farm? Where is it located? Why do restaurants in Los Angeles not tell their customers about the provenance of the food on their plates? Knowing about all the horrors of industrial agriculture, I strongly feel that I have the right to know where the food I am going to put in my body comes from. Certainly at a place that surrounds itself with a sophisticated air.