A few weeks ago I made it back out to Los Angeles. Since I go to be with family we don’t spend a lot of time at interesting restaurants. But for some reason, we did a lot of eating out this time.
One of my favorite places to go out there is Eataly. I first fell in love with Mario Batali’s dream project at the flagship in New York many years ago. What’s not to love about a European-style food hall with a variety of restaurants and gourmet groceries from the old country? Thousands of square feet of deliciousness. This time I resisted the urge to buy rustic European breads. And the glorious house-made pastas of every shape and color. And gelato. And chocolates.
We sat down inside instead of the wraparound balcony for some outdoor dining. Inside were two large wood-burning ovens for the Neapolitan pies that are cranked out in a lot of different versions. We got two of these, a Margherita and a fennel sausage, a now ubiquitous feature on menus... and deservedly so.
Also on the table were two orders of meatballs, some arancini, an arugula salad with a perky vinaigrette, a gigantic plate of Pomodoro, and Chicken Milanese with a vinaigrette salad. For dessert, we ordered a Chocolate Budino.
As I have said many times, there is a critical flaw in the Neapolitan pie. The crust is too thin to support the heft of pizza. Batali’s pies are maybe the thinnest, but I just fold them into a roll and eat some crust with each bite. I was surprised to see only “regular” mozzarella instead of buffalo milk. I’m seeing less and less of that these days. A welcome change, for me at least. I much prefer just whole milk mozzarella grated into a blanket covering the pizza.
This was a good way to start, but the other food arrived quickly. Two orders of meatballs showed up, beautifully plated in a puddle of red sauce with two pizza crust pieces as accompaniment. These meatballs were a set of three medium-sized nuggets made of beef and pork. They were not soft or hard, but easily cut. The sauce was spectacular and the whole dish was dusted with Parmesan cheese. These were so filling and satisfying I could have stopped there.
Or after the arugula salad with shaved Parmesan and a perky vinaigrette.
Arancini also came in a set of three with a tiny bit of red sauce the waiter was proud to offer as complimentary. I’ve had way better than these. They were yellow rice with a bit of cheese inside. These were the least good arancini I have experienced, which surprised me.
The Pomodoro came as a huge pile of spaghetti coated in their superb marinara, Italian-style. I don’t care for Italian style because I like sauce, but the coating was certainly adequate. The star of the table was the Chicken Milanese. It was tender and oh so crispy! Panko-crusted and greaseless, this was terrific!
Maybe I should have said the savory star of the table. The real star of the table was the dessert. A chocolate Budino. There were five of us using little spoons to eat this trough-style, and we couldn’t finish it. That’s how rich it was. This densely dark chocolate mousse had a sludge of creamy fat that lingered on the lips. Whipped cream cut the chocolate density and chocolate shavings and chocolate cookie crumbles added welcome texture to the creaminess. I will think about this for a while.
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Our next stop was for breakfast the following morning. There is a hot chef trio out there that made a name for itself with Trois Mec, a delicious dump of a place in a seedyish strip mall. They followed that success with Petite Trois in Sherman Oaks, a place we love.
Ludo Lefebvre has popped out of the trio as the most celebrated of the chef trio, and went out on his own. The remaining two, known as Jon & Vinny, are now opening outlets of their Jon & Vinny hotspots around L.A. One has opened in a formerly cursed space in Studio City, and it was that one we visited.
It’s very Scandinavian in design. Lots of clean wood and very spartan. The only color comes from the bright green pizza boxes everywhere. The bar also offers soft-serve ice cream, but we went for breakfast and it wasn’t quite ready for dessert. We had to go back for Round Two.
The prices at Jon & Vinny’s are typical for a place with celebrity buzz in L.A., which means ridiculous. We ordered a breakfast sandwich, a breakfast pizza with bacon, and an order of pancakes. By default, I found something that mildly interested me, or better put, made me curious. We skipped the porridge, (yes, it’s a frequent menu item out there) but I did order a dish of creamy polenta and I added a single fried egg for $5.95. That popped my breakfast entree to nearly $23! Jon & Vinny’s has a house policy that all fried eggs are cooked over-hard unless otherwise specified. I found that interesting because fried eggs over hard are for people like me, not hip ones. And we got a slice of banana bread to keep everyone occupied till food arrived. I would have ordered a side of bacon, but it was $14.95.
The slice of banana bread came with butter and was a little small. It was fine but a bit unusual in that it had a sugar crystal coating on top. The baby, who is somewhat of a banana bread connoisseur, seemed unimpressed.
Pancakes were the first big thing to arrive on the table. They were plump and pretty and came with a tiny pitcher of syrup. It was a lovely presentation. These were very good and quickly devoured. It was a large enough portion to feed all small members of the party.
The BLT breakfast sandwich was terrific. Served on buttered and toasted ciabatta, it included Nueske’s bacon and a fried egg, arugula, and aioli. And a juicy red tomato slice.
My polenta was creamy, with olive oil and copious amounts of Parmigiana Reggiano. Was it worth the nearly $23? C’mon.
I can’t say it wasn’t very good. It was indeed extraordinarily creamy, and the Parmesan taste was strong and delicious. But it was a large portion of rich food that I didn’t need to finish. But for that price…
The pizza was fantastic. Here was a pie with all the trademarks of a New York-style pizza, especially with the taste, which was outstanding. The crust was thin and stiff, just like a perfect New York crust. The sauce was vibrant and the melted cheese mellowed it. The contrast was nice. I have thought about this pizza since.
The soft serve machine was still warming up, as they always do when just fired up. We drove around a bit and returned to see if it was up and running. I was told to get one for all of us to share. But I got one of each: vanilla, chocolate, and both. I glanced at the bill while taking a bite and almost dropped the ice cream. It was $30!
These were not even large enough to fill the 8 oz. cup! I will say the contents were sublime. High-fat content left that residue on the lips, and the creaminess was so indulgent. Fantastic!
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Scurrying around the next day we popped in at Massis Original Kabob, a local institution since its Armenian owners arrived in Los Angeles with the Armenian diaspora in the late 1970s. This is a popular place, so popular that it is hard to find a parking spot. Inside it is buzzing with humans. Behind a glass partition tremendous amounts of every vegetable and meat ever put on a skewer are changed out and set over flames continuously.
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This was interesting to watch. We picked up a grilled chicken with a rice pilaf plate and added a hummus. None of it was the equal of our Smoke & Honey, but L.A. is not this La., where the food is better.
The following day we went out for a hike at what was formerly the Strauss Ranch. It is now a luxury resort hidden in the Malibu Mountains, AKA the Santa Monica Mountains. It is called Calimigos in case anyone is looking for a romantic secluded place.
My thought to go to lunch at the Malibu Pier was luckily overruled by someplace owned by the Chipotle folks, who already tried an Asian fast-casual called Shophouse that was shortlived. This new one was even shorter-lived. This revelation left us without a lunch spot until someone remembered Brent’s Deli, a very popular place with two locations. A more modern Jewish deli than Junior’s, Canter’s or Nate & Al’s, Brent's has the same characteristics with more variety than one might expect.
Jewish delis are an adventure for people who aren’t Jewish. Things like motza and Gefilte Fish are something maybe you have to grow up eating. Pastrami and corned beef are a little more lovable.
Our affable waitress offered us pickles as a starter and we ordered toasted bagel slices. In minutes there were two plates of kosher pickle wedges and a small dish of toasted bagel slices.
Jude and his wife split a corned beef sandwich, we got a kid’s burger and a regular burger with fries. There was a mac’n’cheese on the table that was indistinguishable from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, which came with French fries. The fries came in regular and steak fries size.
The kids burger was was perfect, and the perfect size. I wish I had gotten that because my regular burger was too large. It was really good though. A nice old-fashioned burger.
And then the corned beef came, overstuffed with paper-thin slices of delicious corned beef. Nowhere will you find better corned beef or pastrami than in a Jewish deli. The rye bread was distended from the piles of corned beef and a heaping helping of coleslaw. Fantastic.
Jewish delis are a wonderful cultural experience that goes beyond food. They are a reliable source of comfort food and, well, comfort.
We left with some cookies that sat next to the homemade pies in a case in the entranceway. This trip back in time and a bridge to a culture offered more than just a good lunch. I wish I had been a little more adventuresome.
