Grubtrotters

Happy Fourth of July weekend! Just to get you in the mood for the grill, here’s a shot of our BBQ platter from Baby Blues B.B.Q. in Venice. We were so hungry, we started eating before we remembered to take the pic. So if you notice a few bites missing, that’s why.

It’s easy to see how this little hole-in-the-wall joint is so popular. We shared the “Blue Devil,” a feast of four different meats with three sides: chicken, baby back ribs, Memphis ribs and pulled pork with a side of collard greens, mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed okra. The meat was moist and delicious, the BBQ sauce tangy and tight. Loved the cornbread, too. Cornbread is usually too dry for me, but this cornbread was like melted butter. The sweet potato was definitely my favorite side, though. Such comfort food. Collard greens tasted a bit too smoky, almost burnt, and the okra was drowning in garlic. Was it the best BBQ I’ve ever had? Sorry, I’ve lived in the south, so no.

But I can’t say enough about the service at Baby Blues. We got white meat chicken instead of dark by mistake, so they just cooked us up some extra dark meat and let us eat the white meat, too. Then, the friendly guys working the grill saw me salivating over the mac & cheese and gave me a small bowl to sample for free. We rolled out of there fat and happy, the American way. God Bless America, and God Bless Baby Blues! — Jenny

Baby Blues B.B.Q: 444 Lincoln Blvd., Venice. 310-396-8023

A straw would have been handy. The real temptation was to lift the bowl and lick up the rest of the sauce like a 4-year-old at a picnic table. But even for someone who isn’t exactly an Emily Post enthusiast, the licking option was out.

Now a few days later, regret has sunk in. If I wasn’t going to perform the lift-and-lick routine (hoping for at least a bronze in the next Olympics), I should’ve just dipped my fingers into the bowl and cleaned it like the way everyone does with the icing when Mom is baking a cake.

The sauce was just that good.

Did I say sauce? Well, that’s a little misleading.

Chef Ludo Lefebvre had served up some chorizo, onions and cornichons as part of the latest FoodDigger get-together, this one at BreadBar near the Beverly Center. It came in a bowl. It looked like lobster bisque.

So like an idiot, I asked, “Uh, where’s the chorizo?”

The bisque or sauce, I was told, was the chorizo.

Ludo had liquified it and then chilled it. It was the opposite of everything that you would have expected. Instead of a meaty sausage, it was a liquid. Instead of hot, it was cool.

But it was fantastic, perhaps the highlight of the night in terms of originality and execution. It was like drinking creamy bacon, and the iced onions and cornichons managed somehow to counter the smokiness and enhance the spiciness.

Before preparing the meal, Ludo had told this gathering of food bloggers the key to his cooking is having fun. This was particularly exciting to hear given our blog motto. “Two Words: Chow, fun.”

Ludo lived up to his promise with a series of experiments in his 11-course presentation to the group. He said that sometimes he goes too far with his creativity, but adventurous eaters go out of their way to find such boldness. He will be hosting Ludo Bites at this BreadBar through August 22.

My other favorite of the night was foie gras, mushrooms, four spices and a dab of truffle oil atop a maple tart. Ludo included a dollop of lemon paste on the side, which brightened the presentation and provided a bitter contrast to the richness. But this was actually unnecessary because the tart itself was so tasty.

Here was the rest of the lineup:

Deconstruction of Bloody Mary: Like a Jell-o shot only on a spoon with sorbet. Zesty.

Tuna Sashimi, Sushi Rice Ice Cream, Shishimi Togarashi, Crispy Onions: The sesame and ginger in the oil were the stars of this one.

King Red Salmon with Roe and Smoked Vinegar, Watermon with Mint: We got specific instructions. Salmon first, then the watermelon. The vinegar turns this into a party.

Shrimp with Daikon Sweet-n-Sour and Rosemary: Nice action with a lemony zing coming through the buttery richness.

Diver Scallop with a Port/Crème Fraiche Foam: I really enjoyed this because I rarely eat scallops anymore. (The touch of bacon didn’t hurt, either.) I love scallops but Jenny is allergic, and we always share, so to keep it fair, I avoid them as well.

Halibut, Spiced Butter, Fresh Porcini, Tonnato Style, Lettuce: Seinfeld says, “Fax me some halibut.”

Duck, Almonds, Crispy Skin Puree, Tapinade, Turnips: Did I mention I could’ve used a straw?

Cheese plate: I am such an amateur in this regard so I will quote Lincoln (or is it Twain?). “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

Panna Cotta, Caviar, Caramel: To explain this blend of sweet and salty, the running analogy at the table was to imagine mixing Milk Duds and popcorn. Frankly, I’m a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups guy, but you get the idea.

You might have noticed that the shot of the chorizo soup/sauce is the only photo on this post. After gushing about it, it’d be wrong to leave it out. But if you’re really interested in seeing these dishes in vivid color and crisp detail, please check out the work of our blogging colleagues (list below) who use cameras that come straight out of a National Geographic budget request.

Using an iPhone, I felt like, as Sean Connery put it in The Untouchables, the guy who brings a knife to gunfight. I would’ve been better off leaving the phone at home. And bringing a straw. – Victor.

BreadBar: 8718 W. 3rd St. Los Angeles 90048. 310-205-0124.

Folks with legit photo gear:

Two Hungry Pandas

Teenage Glutster

Diana Takes a Bite

Kevin Eats

Culver City has a new French brasserie with a lovely sidewalk cafe called Le Saint Amour, a couple doors down from the Starbucks on Culver Blvd. From the chef/owner of Angelique Cafe, which closed in 2006, Le Saint Amour opened three weeks ago, and I stopped by for lunch yesterday to check it out. Glad I did. Culver City continues to impress as one of the best spots in the L.A. area for casual foodies. The lunch menu has all sorts of bistro items — salads, hot and cold sandwiches and French classics such as escargot, croque monsieur, pate and tarte flambee. Mixed in were some interesting choices such as spicy Moroccan sausage with tomato, bell pepper and harissa. For dinner, you can try pig’s feet, seared sweetbread and tripe sausage.

I went for one of my all-time French favorites, confit de canard, or duck confit ($15). For lunch, the main dishes come with a choice of French fries or “lettuce,” which you can see from the picture to the left is a simple mixed green salad with a smattering of tomatoes. The dish was delicious. The duck was so tender and juicy it fell right off the bone. The skin was nicely seasoned and the portion generous for lunch. I almost took half of it home, but it was too good not to finish on the spot. What could have been a boring salad was kicked up a notch with pungent dressing and very fresh greens. Fabulous.
My friend Vanessa ordered the Nicoise salad ($14), which looked amazing. (I didn’t ask for a bite). It came with tomatoes, seared pepper tuna, white anchovies, eggs, red onions and olives. She gave it a thumbs up. The service was friendly, albeit a little slow with the check, which is fine for a leisurely lunch. You won’t feel rushed. But it could pose a problem for the nearby studio crowd with only an hour to spare midday. All the waiters at Le Saint Amour had French accents, and many diners spoke French, too — always a positive sign if you’re looking for authenticity. The decor is not quite as grand as you’ll see at Anisette in Santa Monica, but this place feels homier, less crowded, more casual — at least for now. When the foodies discover this jewel, all bets are off. — Jenny

Le Saint Amour: 9725 Culver Blvd., Culver City, 310-842-8155.

Only in Venice would a neighbor at the next table see me salivating over her truffle pasta and offer me the first bite. It was Saturday night at Ado, the cute little Italian joint in the homey space formerly occupied by Amuse, and Allison was in the mood to share. I happily accepted her offer, even while wondering where on earth they found truffles this time of year. Australia?

Ado, a joint venture between Paolo Cesaro (Hidden and Via Veneto) and Chef Antonio Mure (Piccolo, La Botte, Locanda Veneta) opened last month with little fanfare, but the place already is already buzzing with a distinct party vibe. The space is tiny — only about 10 tables — and a little hot upstairs, but the service is fantastic and the food is pretty darned good.

My only beef about Ado is the price. Vic and I ordered two appetizers, one pasta, two entrees and two glasses of Nerello Mascalese wine. Even without dessert or a full bottle of wine, the meal tab came to $178 with tip. They actually charged us for three glasses of wine, but Vic caught the mistake. Still, the bill was pretty steep for an Italian meal in this economy, and I ate better for less last month on a trip to Florence. Not that the Venetians at Ado seemed to mind. Everyone was having a great time. And I must admit that the appetizer portions at Ado were huge. You could easily save a few bucks by ordering an appetizer and pasta instead of a main course.

When we arrived at Ado, a gaggle of gorgeous Italian men greeted us with “Buona Sera” and showed us upstairs to a table covered in white cloth and a single candle. There seemed to be almost as many servers as diners, which made for highly attentive (but not annoying) service that was rather polished for such a new place. We started the meal with a Parma Prosciutto and Burrata cheese appetizer (pictured above). The cheese was creamy and luscious, the prosciutto a salty winner. You can’t go wrong with this one. We also tried the Warm Baby Artichokes Hearth with Dungeness Crab Meat, Mache salad and Grape Must Reduction. This starter had a boatload of crab meat but could have used a tad more flavor — more of the must reduction, perhaps.

Next we shared the Home-made Pappardelle served with Rabbit Ragu, Porcini Mushrooms and Dried Prune. Dried prunes? I was a little concerned about that, but they actually added a sweet little flavor kick that balanced out this hearty dish. The thick ribbons of pasta were cooked quite al dente. Nice overall, but not especially memorable.

My main course, however, was a huge winner. The Grilled Colorado Lamb Chop stuffed with Pesto and served with a Red Wine and Mustard Sauce was fantastic. The meat was tender, cooked flat and then rolled up with the pesto filling. The sauce was salty — I like salty — and complex. So good. Vic ordered the Pan sautéed Beef Filet Mignon served with Crispy Prosciutto and a Pink Peppercorn Sauce. Sounded wonderful, and it wasn’t bad at all. But if you have a choice between the filet and the lamb chops, go with the lamb chops for sure. The sauce was just better, the dish itself more interesting. Both of our entrees were served with a side of carrots, potatoes and sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, which looked like potatoes and tasted sort of like a crunchy root vegetable.

I wish we’d had room for dessert, but like I said, the portions were massive, and we were stuffed by the end of the meal. The service was so friendly, the folks at Ado made you feel like you were stopping by their home for a dinner party. The valet saw us coming down the stairs and brought us the correct car without us even giving him the ticket. What a great place for date night. I have a feeling Ado is going to be hard to get into very soon, but if you do make it, don’t forget to share some truffles with your neighbor. — Jenny

Ado: 796 Main Street
Venice, 310-399-9010.

Well, that was quick. Chef Conny Andersson’s AK Restaurant + Bar on Abbot Kinney in Venice is closing after just seven months, citing creative differences with his financial partners. The restaurant got a nice review from the LA Times, but we had mixed feelings about it after an uncomfortably cold night there and haven’t been back.

Apparently, Andersson is ankling, but “the restaurant will continue to be open under a different name and menu,” he said. “The only thing that’s certain in life is change.”

Andersson is currently searching for a new location to open AK in the Los Angeles area, which is a little odd, given that the name AK clearly comes from Abbot Kinney, the street where the restaurant is located. Stay tuned.

The uber-chic new Venice outpost of the Chicago-based Intelligentsia coffee bar — already well known to the caffeinated Silver Lake crowd — officially opened on Abbot Kinney today, just in time to satisfy my need for an afternoon pick-me-up. I gave up coffee a year ago, and it’s damned hot today so I opted for a chilled organic osthmanthus silver needles white tea from the (mysterious, according to Victor) Fujian region of China. White tea has less caffeine than any other real tea, and Intelligentsia doesn’t actually heat the tea and add ice. Instead, they cold brew it by letting it steep overnight and serve it without ice. How’s that for haughty?

OK, so I’m being a little hard on the place, which is getting a ton of buzz among foodies. As a Venetian for more than a decade, it’s been drilled into my head to resist the dreaded chain stores. And yes, Intelligentsia is a chain. But Pinkberry long ago invaded the neighborhood so I should probably just give it up and admit that Intelligentsia is seriously into quality. The flavor of the white tea was fantastic, and frankly, I hate ice in my drinks. They know what they’re doing here, and if you’re a brew connoisseur, this is among the best you’re going to find. They’re also into “direct trade,” which is like fair trade plus.

My yoga buddy Kathy ordered an iced coffee, and we shared two desserts, a lemon tart and raspberry breton. I thought the lemon tart was delicious, very soft and lemony and, well, tart. The raspberry dessert had fresh raspberries and pistachios, which I love, but the crispy bottom of the dessert was a little too hard for my taste. I like a dessert that’s easier to eat without a knife. The bill came to $19.25.

The cafe itself is sleek and airy and bright, but it’s a little strange, too. The bar is round. You step through an arched corridor and order before moving around the bar to another person. You keep getting passed off, it seems, around the circle. Everyone is knowledgeable and happy to explain how the coffee and tea are special so it’s not a big deal. But then there’s the seating. There are only a couple of tables outside, and the rest are bleacher seats, inside and out. It’s a little tough to eat a tart on bleachers. It’s not like there’s some sort of sport to watch, unless you consider checking out the attire of the local hipsters a sport.

Frankly, I’d rather brew my white tea at home and relax at the local cafe Abbot’s Habit if I want a place to hang out. That’s a comfier environment, less of an industrial feel. But if you’re a die-hard coffee or tea drinker and don’t care to stick around, Intelligentsia might just be the place for your morning fix. –Jenny

Intelligentsia, 1331 Abbot Kinney in Venice.

Flora Springs 2005 Trilogy from Napa Valley is our wine pick of the day. I had an opportunity to sample half a dozen Flora Springs wines at a dinner hosted by the third-generation, family-owned winery at Wilshire, one of my favorite Santa Monica restaurants, back in March.

The 2005 Trilogy is a Meritage blend of traditional Bordeaux varietals, 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec mainly from the Komes Ranch estate vineyards surrounding the winery. The wine spent 22 months in new French oak barrels, and it’s wonderfully rich, full-bodied and balanced.

The best wine of the night was actually the 1996 Trilogy, but that one is a lot harder and more expensive to get your hands on at this point. The ‘05 Trilogy retails for $65, but I found it offered online for as little as $39.99.

The family behind Flora Springs owns 650 acres of vineyards in Napa Valley, a total of 10 vineyards in five appellations: Rutherford, St. Helena, Oakville and Carneros. All the vineyards are sustainable, and 20% are certified organic, with another 240 acres to be certified this year. A full 90% of the grapes used in the Flora Springs red wines are from organic vineyards. That means no spraying of harmful chemicals. Instead, they use natural methods such as cover crops, hawks and owls to control problems such as pests.

A quick summary of our dinner to whet your palate: We started with a delicate hamachi seasoned with ponzu and wasabi, which was paired with Flora Springs 2007 Soliloquy Sauvignon Blanc. That was followed by ricotta gnocchi with hedgehog mushrooms, Cippolini onions and chestnuts, which we enjoyed with the 2007 barrel fermented Chardonnay. For our third course, we savored a rich and delicious Moroccan spiced lamb stew with fregola sarda (a healthy pasta from Sardinia), cauliflower, piquillo pepper harissa (a hot sauce) and banana raita (a cool, yogurt-based sauce). This dish was accompanied by the 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. And finally, we sipped the ‘96, ‘99 and ‘06 Trilogy wines with some artisinal cheeses before capping off the evening with a dessert of pain perdu with meyer lemon, huckleberries, port reduction and vanilla ice cream. Yum. — Jenny

Now that I’ve tried juicy buns, I can’t get enough. I’m totally hooked on these Chinese soup-filled dumplings. In the past couple of weeks, Vic and I slurped up pork and crab juicy buns for dinner with his parents at the excellent chef-owned Shanghai restaurant Hunan Cottage in Fairfield, NJ. Then, as soon as we got home to the West Coast, we headed straight to the famous Din Tai Fung Dumpling House in Arcadia, CA, for a brunch of 10 juicy pork and crab dumplings and another 10 without the crab. Soup dumplings are just so much fun. They’re like Christmas presents, nicely wrapped and filled with goodies. Feasting on them is sheer juicy nirvana.

Having tried them three times in as many weeks, I think the buns at Cheng Du 23 are the best, maybe because they were my first. Of course, Vic is more of a soup dumpling veteran, and he agreed. They were huge and bursting with flavorful soup. Hunan Cottage comes in a close second and Din Tai Fung third, only because their dumplings were smaller and slightly less juicy. At Din Tai Fung, I could pop the entire dumpling in my mouth and swallow it almost whole. At Cheng Du 23, I had to poke a hole in the dumpling and sip the soup out first, savoring the flavor longer.

Of course, dumplings were not all we ate at either location. It wouldn’t be a meal with Vic’s parents without ordering far more than we could possibly consume in a single sitting. Some of the highlights included fantastic drunken chicken, a Shanghai specialty that used Chinese rice wine as a marinade, and tasty vegetarian mock duck, made of tofu and flavored with star anise.

The giant shrimp in a spicy chili sauce was also extremely tasty, so much so that we brought the extra sauce home. It was too good to waste. Messy, too, though. These prawns came with the heads on, and you had to get your fingers dirty to get to the good stuff. At Din Tai Fung, we mainly stuck to dumplings, their specialty, but we also enjoyed a special noodle dish topped with beef and spicy roast beef soup. The shrimp and pork shiaomai were also lovely.

Vic had visited Din Tai Fung in Taiwan years ago, but this was our first trip to the dumpling house in Arcadia. Our new friends Annie and her husband Victor — another Chinese Victor — joined us. The restaurant actually has two locations in Arcadia, and we visited the newer one, which had a sleek contemporary look (pictured below). There’s a window near the entrance where you can watch the guys in the kitchen rolling the dough and making the dumplings. You know you’re in L.A. because the guys in the kitchen are all Hispanic rather than Chinese.

The restaurant is also packed with cute little Asian babies. I’d heard nightmares about the wait at Din Tai Fung, but we only had a few minutes before getting seated, and all the adorable kids kept us amused. At the end of our meal, I was so full, I thought I’d have no room for dessert. But then they brought the red bean dumplings, and I gobbled them up. Now that we’ve tried it, I have a feeling we’re going to be making regular trips from Venice to Arcadia. Given the lack of decent Chinese food on the West side, it’s well worth the drive. — Jenny

Din Tai Fung: 1088 South Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA; 626-446-8588
Hunan Cottage: 14 US Highway 46, Fairfield, NJ, 973-808-8328

BBQ Duck Fried Rice from Wirin Thai in Venice. Decadent and delicious. And they deliver, too.

Photo from www.orderinfood.com

I have been traveling nonstop for the past three weeks and haven’t had any time to stop and post. Between Florence, Siena, New York and New Jersey, I have had some amazing meals that I hope to find time to blog about in detail. But let’s start with last night’s meal and work backwards. I’m visiting my in-laws in Northern New Jersey. They’re Chinese, and they sure know how to eat. Last night, we visited a nondescript little joint in a Wayne, NJ strip mall called Cheng Du 23. From the outside, it didn’t look promising, with a sign touting “Asian Cuisine.” It opened about a year ago, and Vic’s parents didn’t have high hopes, either, until they tried it and found some of the most delicious, authentic Sichuan food around. They’re regulars now. If your palate is adventurous and you like your Chinese food spicy, you will love Cheng Du 23.

Vic’s parents ordered a ridiculous amount of food — so much so that the owner, who was waiting on us, asked if we were expecting more people. I have no idea how Vic’s Mom stays so skinny. She must weigh less than 100 pounds, and she chose five entrees and two appetizers for the four of us.

We started with a traditional Sichuan cold appetizer of ox tongue and tripe in a roasted chili peanut sauce. This was actually the spiciest dish we had all night so starting there made me a little nervous. But it was just this side of painful. The strips of tripe were long and thin like a flat pasta, with tiny chunks of tongue mixed throughout. For the uninitiated, tripe is made from the stomach of the ox. One of the things I appreciate about the Chinese is something they share with the Florentines in Italy: They make use of parts of the animal that many cultures waste.

My favorite dish, the lamb with special pepper sauce, doesn’t look that great in the photo (sorry, we only had the iPhone) but was really distinct and delicious. Strips of lamb were seasoned with hot red peppers and a cumin found only in the Himalayas near Tibet. This is not something you see on many menus in the U.S., and the flavor had a wonderful, smoky depth. If you have the chance to try this, please do. It’s worth a drive. Even smokier than the lamb was the tea smoked duck, another traditional Sichuan dish that was really done well here. All the flavors were strong, and the meat was moist.

Of course, most moist of all were the wonderful steamed juice buns (labeled “bum” on the menu). These dumplings were filled with soup and pork. We had to carefully pick up the delicate buns with a spoon, take a small bite and then sip out the soup before eating the rest of the dumpling. I had read about similar dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant in New York but had never actually tried them until, now. How fun!

We also loved the whole fish in Chili Sauce, which was striped bass with minced pork and homemade Sichuan pickles on top. Fresh, hearty and fantastic. With all these strong flavors, the two least spicy dishes kind of got lost in the mix. The shrimp duet was a combination of stir fried shrimp with vegetables (mushrooms, carrots and baby corn) and jumbo shrimp with garlic sauce. We also had a chicken in garlic sauce, with the breast meat shaped like little flowers. Both were lovely, but the flavors paled next to the other dishes. If you don’t like much spice, these are the ones for you. Then again, I took a menu home and was shocked to read that the spiciest dish we ate (the tripe) only had one star next to it, denoting “medium spicy.” I can’t imagine how hot the two-star “extra hot and spicy” and four-star “very hot and spicy” dishes are. I think most mouths would be on fire. There’s also a handful of Americanized Chinese dishes, such as General Tso’s Chicken, listed as lunch specials. But skip those boring choices and go for something authentic and special. You won’t regret it. — Jenny

Cheng Du 23, 6 Willowbrook Blvd., Wayne, NJ, 973-812-2800