Friday, September 12, 2008

Pizzeria Mozza

Every foodblogger in LA seems to need a Pizzeria Mozza post. I was certainly excited the first time I went, and even the second and third time I went, it still felt like a special occasion. However, every single time, I had been really nervous to take pictures, as we were sitting so close to the people next to us (they really pack us in there, like sardines), and I would feel too self concious to start snapping away. However, finally, during this last trip to Mozza, we were seated way in the back, me next to a wall, and I finally felt comfortable enough to take out the camera and snap a few shots, so my Mozza post can finally be written...it was fate.

This time around, I had gotten street parking, but other times I had been running late, and had to use their extremely ridiculously priced valet parking (I think 8 dollars is the service charge?!!) I mean, yeah, it's LA, yeah, parking is hell, but yipes. Just yipes. That's like...a price of a lunch already, and that's before you even walk through the door...

Walking into Mozza, everything feels so...cozy. Good and bad way to describe it. It's a tiny space, so, as I mentioned before, they really have to pack in the tables and chairs, and why it's so dang hard to get a reservation here. The coziness factor is heightened by the color of the walls, a dark orange, which is easy on the eyes. Wine bottles crowd the walls, people crowd the floor, it's all a jumble, and usually hopping.
Pizzeria Mozza
Once seated at the table, a few breadsticks are always placed in front of us. They kinda stave off the hunger but what I really want is a big old slab of bread...but I guess we should wait for the pizza. They also ask if you want sparkling, still or filtered tap, and we usually go for the tap. They fill a bottle of it and leave it at the table, which you can use to fill your own glass (if the waiter doesn't get to it first to fill your glasses for you.)
Pizzeria Mozza
The first of our appetizers - shrimp and melon. Owen really likes this one, as we had it the first time we went to Mozza. The flavors are really punchy and fresh, and everything works harmoniously together. You really feel the mastery of Batali here - his detail in mixing things together, things I wouldn't necessarily eat in the same dish - shrimp, melon, red onion, basil, mint, red pepper flakes. It's so simple, yet kicks you in the pants when you first take a bite. The shrimp is perfectly steamed here - nothing is worse than overcooked shrimp - and soaks up all those sweet and tangy melon-y juices. Really good, a must try.
Pizzeria Mozza
A favorite of mine, probably not so much Owen's, is bone marrow. Three big honkin' pieces of cow bones, roasted, with the marrow warm and gooey, with softened garlic, salt, and two pieces of grilled toast. This so fun to construct - using the little fork, scraping some marrow onto the toast, mashing a garlic clove into it, maybe a little of the parsley salad, a sprinkle of salt and then the bite into the toast...just...essence of meat, great flavors and textures. It's no wonder most cooks love this stuff. I admit though, I liked this better when I had it with Jay, as one of the marrow pieces had a HUGE glob of fat in it (kinda gross when I bit into some, ugh, and worse when I scraped it out, and it congealed into fatty nastiness on my plate), and Jay was eating his full share of his half. Owen mostly only ate a bit of the marrow, but ate his full slice of toast, thusly I had way too much marrow and not enough toast to spread it on. And when there's TOO much of a good thing...well, it's just not as good. In any case, if you've never tried bone marrow, I highly suggest it.
Pizzeria Mozza
Finally our pizzas arrived at the table. This one has Prosciutto, basil, fresh mozzarella, and olive tapenade. I thought this would be the winner, initially, but it was an odd mix of flavors. When Owen was eating it, he mentioned that he got a sudden reminder of eating bubble gum. And it WAS kind of like eating bubble gum - the fresh mozzarella added that chewy texture - I think what it was is that the toppings weren't really baked on here, they seemed to have baked the crust and then added the fresh toppings on top, so there was an odd temperature difference, and no crisp to the prosciutto. The tapenade was a huge mistake here, I thought, it really didn't add to any of the meaty flavors of the rest of the pizza. I mean, bad pizza is still pizza (as I was discussing with an afficionado of pizza,) but it was just a bit of a letdown. The crust was still good as usual, that billowy texture, the crunch on the outside, pleasing and yielding insides.
Pizzeria Mozza
This pizza fared much better, it was a bacon, goat cheese and leeks pizza. This is what I'm talking about, all the ingredients BAKED in the OVEN, so it's melty and hot and mingles with the crust. It was a good salty mix of flavors, with the leeks that helped mellow out the rest of the punchy flavors of goat cheese and bacon. This was definitely a winner.
Pizzeria Mozza
The most amazing thing is this butterscotch budino, what can I say that hasn't been said before? Even though I am not the biggest butterscotch fan, this dessert, I sometimes long for this dessert. It almost feels light, even though it's super decadent. Flecks of maldon sea salt dot the top, which add depth to what otherwise would probably be too sweet. The top caramel layer is the sweetest part, but the budino itself is just pure creamy goodness. The little pine nut rosmary cookies on the side are a decent accompaniment, but it pales in comparison to the overwhelming awesomeness of the budino.

I like this place lots, and it's quite a treat, but I admit the prices are a little steep for pizza, not to mention PARKING. But it is noteworthy, and an LA experience. Do yourself a favor and go if you haven't already.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Fraiche

More friends coming into town (it's summer, what can I say?...well, WAS summer), and I wanted to take them somewhere special. Downtown Culver City is now officially a hot spot for restaurants (considering the lack of parking that I usually encounter there on a Friday night) so I figured, somewhere around there. I had been wanting to try Fraiche for awhile, so I took Brian, Goldie and Leonard here.

The place felt a bit trendy and I was admittedly a bit under-dressed (I'm just not a "dressed up" person, I suppose), but I felt glaringly so this time around. We were seated outdoors, which was nice. I have to admit, service was pretty spotty. Our waitress pretty much ignored us. I know we're not the "high rollers" or anything, but Goldie wanted sugar for her iced tea...is that too much to ask?
The cloudier shade of brown liquid was my Arnold palmer, and in the background, Goldie's unrequited non-sugared iced tea. Also, bread and olive oil were placed on the table - I remember the bread being not so special (kinda like biting into a weird sponge) but the olive oil was something special - really flavorful and robust.

Fraiche
Leonard and I got the Royale with Cheese - a burger topped with Gruyere, with a different kind of bun - basically, a circular croissant. On the side, it came with mayo (no ketchup, after all, this is a french restaurant!), iceburg lettuce and tomatoes, and fries, all arranged on what I could only describe as a 80's yuppie's glass tv dinner tray. The bun was very different, I liked it, but the patty was not really anything special, sadly. I don't remember it being cooked to my specifications - more of a well done than a medium rare. The cheese helped this burger a lot - the tasty melted gruyere is always welcome on my burgers. And disaapointing iceburg lettuce?? Iceburg is totally acceptable at Apple Pan (mainly because of the nostalgia) but here, at Fraiche? I was a bit disappointed, actually. Fries were alright. Dipping them in mayo is still weird to me.
Fraiche
Brian got the chicken pita, again served on a bubbled glass yuppie tray. Doesn't it kind of look like this pita threw up what it ate all over itself?!! Okay, that's not the most appetizing thing to think of. Concentrating on the food...I tried a bit, it was alright, Brian liked it (but mainly because I think he is an eternal carb hater, and this seemed to have little in the carb department.) I dislike huge wedges of cucumber (thinly sliced cucumber is my preference) so I probably would have been a bit disappointed with this had I ordered it.
Fraiche
Goldie was in a pasta ravioli kinda mood, so she got these cute mint pea ravoilis. This was a deceptively small serving, I tried half a ravioli and was overwhelmed by how dense each one of these is. This ends up being a pretty heavy plate. The intense flavor when biting into a piece of one of these was surprising, as was the combination of mint and pea. I almost felt refreshed after biting into one.

Honestly, I was a bit let down by Fraiche, after reading so many good reviews about this place. Perhaps I will give it another try, during dinner. And if Goldie comes along, I'll try to remember to bring some extra sugar for her iced tea.

Fraiche
9411 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 839-6800

Monday, September 08, 2008

Cafe 50's

Judy and Kelvin came into town for a wedding, and was staying over for the weekend. Kelvin had a huge craving for cherry coke, at 11pm at night, so we headed over to Cafe 50's (the Santa Monica location). I admit, I hadn't been here since the beginning of college, so my vague memories of their food were a bit...foggy. But I knew, for sure, that they would have cherry coke, and their varieties of shakes were extensive enough to please Owen.

Walking into Cafe 50's hits all those kitch-y notes - the neon signage, the posters plastering every inch of the wall (even the ceiling), collectibles and stuff basically everywhere. There were even board games available for people to play (Judy longed to play Connect Four or Battleship) but we ended up just chatting away after we were seated in our red vinyl seat booth.

Our waitress insisted on us joining their birthday club (only Owen joined, but it did pay off - he got a "free entree coupon" in the mail this past month!). Our busboy was kind of...weird. I think I told him what we wanted for drinks, and he clearly said, "Sorry", instead of "Thank you". Weird. What is he sorry about? Should we have been worried about what we were about to eat?!!...maybe he was sorry because this showed up at the table after sitting around for a spell...

Cafe 50's
A HUGE saucer of clam chowder, with a healthy skin formed on top. If you jiggle this bowl, you can recreate the Earthquake of '89 all in the confines of this vessel! This is the bowl version, and not the cup version. I can only imagine what size the cup version is! Although weary, we still tried some, which was not too bad, but the skin really turned me off of eating in general. Maybe this soup was really from the 50's, thusly, Cafe 50's lives up to its' name!

Don't let this angle of the camera fool you: these plates of garlic cheese fries (in the foreground) and chili cheese fries were HUGE. The amount piled high on Judy's Chili cheese plate could easily take up the space of a whole roasted chicken - imagine how much chili and cheese that is for a second - okay - now think about trying to EAT all that grease and meat product and whatever. And every second that goes by, the fries are turning into one giant mass of potato mush. Kelvin hardly ate any, Judy tried her best but I estimate she ate about 1/8th of the amount on her plate.

Cafe 50's
I got the special of the day, Fish and chips. Pretty pitiful plate of fish and chips, but satiated my cravings for a fry up. The fish wasn't exactly "line caught, fresh from the sea"...but what did I expect after having the clam chowder. Fries were okay.
Cafe 50's
Owen got an avocado bacon cheeseburger, with sweet potato fries instead of regular fries. You can't really see the burger under the mess of fries and rabbit food, but I had a bite and it was decent. I probably should have stuck to something like this but I didn't feel like having a whole burger. The fries were very tasty though, I especially like the cut of the fries, good amount of fry on the outside and soft potato on the inside.

Since they're open late and have a decent amount of diner type things on the menu, I think I'd go again to have more land animals and not seafood (what I was thinking, I have no idea), but I'd say watch out for the soup and portions - unless you're starving.

http://www.cafe50s.com/
11623 Santa Monica Blvd, LA
310-479-1955

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

The Del

In the interest of wanting to try a new place, I had heard that The Del, a bar type restaurant in Playa del Rey, was worth checking out. I made reservations on Opentable.com (One of the handiest sites I've ever used) about an hour before we left, and it was not a problem. The place was really close to The Shack, a burger place we used to frequent during school. The nice ocean breeze welcomed us as we left our parked car.

The place was pretty bustling, even though it was pretty small. The decor was kind of - weird. Almost...off. It seemed like we were on a movie set, of what a movie director thinks a bar should look like. The walls were black, with accents of gothic type wallpaper. Flatscreens were everywhere. There was a pool table and an extensive bar area. We were seated in a booth with spotlights on us. It was a little...uncomfortable. I felt like any minute, a director would come in and tell us that we were eating incorrectly. Kind of weird.

But, we were here for the food, so here it goes...

The Del
Pat of butter, with black salt sprinkled on top. Nice little touch, the salt was very flavorful and crunchy. This was spread upon...
The Del
One lone piece of bread each. A bit frugal to me, but it's better that I not fill myself up on bread.
The Del
My sparkling water - I dunno, something special and expensive. It was okay. Probably could have been more fizzy, I prefer that.
The Del
A plate of calamari. Pretty well done, a bit greasy but not too bad, but a little more salty than I usually prefer. I liked the squiddy parts more than just the rings. The bit of salad was a nice touch, but it got all oily from touching the calamari pieces. The dipping sauce was nothing to write home about - no distinct flavor detected.
The Del
Owen's slab of New York Steak, upon two, count em, two colors of string beans, on an island of mashed potatoes, in a sea of au jus. Owen absolutely loved this. The taste I got was really tasty. It was perfectly cooked, pink in the middle, seasoned well, with a good crust on the outside. These people know how to cook meats.
The Del
I got a burger, which was cooked perfectly as well - pink in the middle, burger juices running into the bun (okay this will sounds gross, but I took a bite of this burger, and there were so many juices that I literally got a mouthful of juice that squirted down my throat. Yeah. Get your mind out of the gutters now. Focus on the food. Okay.) The fries were nice, good amount of seaasoning. The bun to this burger was a great cradle to the meat patty. Condiments were thinly sliced, everything was playing to the strength of the burger patty.

It was a nice dinner, but Owen really doesn't want to come back here again because of the ambience and decor. I could hardly hear myself talk, everything was so loud. It's a shame, because the cook here really knows his way around meats (you are welcome to think whatever dirty thoughts you want with that comment. You're welcome.)

thedelrestaurant.com
119 Culver Blvd
Playa Del Rey, CA 90293
(310) 823-6800

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Callendars

After escaping to Howard Hughes Center one hot summer evening, we decided to watch a movie to soak up some delicious A/C. The movie was pretty mediocre (Get Smart. Why. My quick review, probably a 4 out of 10. But I had pretty low expectations for the movie...even so. Don't watch this movie if you were a fan of the original series. But I digress), but we wanted to stay out of the apartment a little longer, to wait for it to cool down a bit more, so we stopped into Callendars for some dinner.

Callendars is an updated, "higher end" Marie Callendars. I only know Marie Callendars for their pies and horrible mediocre premade plastic food, but Callendars is actually alright. Service was quick, albeit awkward (our waitress was a bit new I think, and kept checking in with us...too much coddling makes me feel they want us to leave ASAP.)

Callendars
To start, we ordered spinach and artichoke dip, which came with really thin and flimsy tortilla chips, and pico de gallo. This plate was HUGE. I mean seriously, I think I could have used this plate to fit 3 meals on it. The dip itself is pretty decent, cheesy and hot, but as I mentioned before, these chips are so thin, if you try to dip with them, the chip cracks with the effort and the result is half a chip in your hand, and half a chip embedded in the dip. That was a bit annoying, but again, the dip was still tasty, as was the pico de gallo.

Callendars
Complimentary cornbread, brought to the table, with whipped butter. Crumbly, dry, I dunno, maybe cornbread is just not my thing. We didn't eat that much of it.
Callendars
Owen's favorite kind of sandwich combination: turkey, avocado, bacon club on a croissant. The thick steak fries are the star of this plate, personally, but the sandwich is pretty darn tasty too. The turkey isn't fake, it tastes like it actually came from a bird carcass. The bacon is decent, probably could be crispier but that's my own preference. The croissant as the bread product that binds everything together, just a stroke of genius. The outside of the croissant is crisp, the insides fluffy. And it randomly comes with a small red delicious apple. Why not?

Callendars
Here's what I got, a cobb salad. Way too drenched in the dressing. Shredded lettuce, I think mostly iceburg. Blah. Chicken was okay, just kinda bland and dry. They weren't skimpy with the avocado, at least. This was definitely...eh. Okay. Nothing I'd get again.

Owen ended up getting a piece of pecan pie to go, but I never even got a bite of it..he ate it while I was asleep. He owes me pie. That's all I have to say about that.

Again, Callendar's is alright, definitely better than the Marie Callendar's usual restaurant fare.