Two Institutions

Usually, when I visit family in Los Angeles, I don’t get much out of it culinarily. Kids. But this time, I was delighted to experience two places that have interested me for a long time, and they are completely different.

The day before Easter we went down to The Grove, the Rick Caruso masterpiece of mall shopping, which is connected to an L.A. landmark, the Farmer’s Market. As with seemingly all such things, the Farmer’s Market was a bustling place of great commerce until more modern enticements caused it to fall into disrepair. But it has gentrified and become quite the hotspot of interesting shops and restaurants. Like the older downtown Farmer’s Market, it bears little resemblance to what was, but there is an eclectic mix of hip places like Danny Trejo’s Tacos, and Monsieur Marcel Bistro, a long-standing French place serving fantastic French food. Along with these restaurants, there are shops selling iconic local products, like nut butters from a hundred-plus-year-old nut shop called Magee's, 

and a new-fangled shop called Kaylin & Kaylin Pickles, offering pickle flights. (Yes, you read that right.)

We went there on a beautiful California afternoon to eat at Gott’s Roadside, a newcomer to this scene. Gott’s is well known in the Napa area for taking over Taylor’s Refresher in St. Helena, the beloved roadside stand selling burgers, fries, and shakes. After a much-publicized legal battle with the Taylor family, the Gott brothers of winery fame have expanded the concept in both menu and real estate, and they just opened the location at The Farmer’s Market. Gott’s is unlike any other such place, serving outstanding gourmet food as well as a large selection of beverages, meaning wines by the glass and bottle, premium beers,  shakes, and lemonades.

The place is a James Beard award winner, and is much renowned in the Golden State. This is the third location to open since the legal woes ended and the second outside the Napa area, unless you count the new one in the San Francisco Ferry Building as outside the area.

I was thrilled to hear they had come to L.A., though not quite as excited that we had to go to the overcrowded Grove/ Farmer’s Market. There is an indoor space as well as outside, with specials in addition to the enormous menu. We got several burgers and fries, a hot dog, chicken tenders, 

a salad, and two specials, both ordered by me: artichokes two ways and a Cubano.

I certainly didn’t need the artichokes, but it is California, so I got this unusual preparation. To see artichokes and an aioli in a classic fast-food cardboard boat seemed weird, but this was half a small artichoke grilled and a few deep-fried cardoons.

The Cuban sandwich was so good I couldn’t stop eating it, so there wasn’t much space left for the appetizer. The three adults split it, but they didn’t have much room for these artichokes either.

The smaller grilled artichoke was nicely done and tender, and the aioli was a good but not great dipping sauce. The fried cardoons were golden brown and very crunchy from the coarse Panko breadcrumb coating. This breadcrumb coating was the topic of much discussion, since the chicken tenders were such a hit too. These were exceptionally good tenders. They were plump and tender, with a great flavor to the coating. Crispy and greaseless too.

The burgers were exceptional for what they were, and the fries fine, but ordinary. The hot dog was too wide in circumference for my taste, but it was a high quality Niman Ranch wiener on an unusual housemade bun. 

The parents shared a Citrus Avocado Chop Salad tossed in a delicious cilantro and pumpkin seed vinaigrette. Mixed lettuces, asado spice-rubbed grilled chicken shared bowl space with oranges and tomatoes, black beans, pickled red onions, quinoa, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, and cotija cheese. This was so large that they didn’t even finish it.

I think my Cuban was the best thing on the table. It was served on a toasted ciabatta and was loaded with Black Forest ham and house-roasted pork. The mustard was really pungent coarse mustard offset by the Swiss cheese, perked up with dill pickles and pepperoncini. This was a very filling and delicious combination of flavors.

We finished this $120 meal with soft-serve ice cream and shakes made from premium ice cream from the Straus Family Dairy, a legend in the Bay Area.

On the Gott’s website it says that lots of customers come several times a week to get different things from this large menu. If I lived closer ,I’d be one of them. 

The following day was Easter, and we had lunch at another California culinary legend, this one in Los Angeles. Lawry’s The Prime Rib, has been around since 1934, and not a thing has changed. They moved across the street, but the carving cart is the same one since 1934, and the plush surroundings remain, as well as the loyal clientele. 

My son's in-laws are part of the loyal clientele, and they are regulars there. I've been wanting to see what all the fuss is about for some time. After having been, I’m still wondering what all the fuss is about. 

To me, the best thing that was on the table that day was the warm and crusty sourdough bread. A signature item on the menu is the spinning salad, served tableside. A large bowl spins, and dressing is added, then salads are distributed to all whose meal includes the salad. 

It was an ordinary mix of greens at best, with shredded beets and some hard-boiled egg, all drenched in a sweet dressing from the middle of the last century. What impressed me most about the place were the prices. I couldn’t believe them. Kid’s menu items were $30!  Chicken tenders (that happened to sport fried burn marks) with ordinary frozen fries, and a bowl of macaroni and cheese were also $30. 

Prime rib dinners included the prime rib, mashed potatoes, the spinning salad, 

and a piece of Yorkshire pudding. 

All such meals came from a beautiful serving cart wheeled around the dining room. The presentation is nice. All proteins are standing up inside, and are carved at the table. 

A metal container of mashed potatoes is changed often and hot gravy is also on that cart. A man dressed in chef whites serves it up. It’s all the same, and prices are determined by the thickness of the meat. The thinnest slab is $53, and it escalates from there. The one pictured here is called The California Cut, and it is $57. 

The “most popular,” the Lawry’s cut, is $72, and the bone-in Diamond Jim Brady Cut is $89. It goes up to $111 for a plate off the silver cart. The meat is tender, but I can’t get over the price of a plate that looks like Sunday dinner at Grandma’s.

I ordered ham to get something different, and there were two salmons at the table. These came with a layer of spinach on top and some shrimp. One of the kids had the prime rib kid’s version, which at $30 was the best value on the table. The California Cut at $57 wasn’t a lot larger.

My $47 ham plate was carved from the cart. It came with sweet potatoes that looked like the ones from the can, and fresh buttery green beans that were nice. The three slices of ham were tender and fine.The Salmon Rockefeller didn’t look all that appealing, with a pile of spinach lopped on top, but it was described as “fine.” 

"Fine" is the word that generously describes the entire meal. The ingredients were good, but the presentation of it all was straight out of the middle of the last century. And judging by the delight of the regulars at our table, there is no need to update.