Grubtrotters

Sincere apologies for our protracted absence. We recently attempted (unsuccessfully so far) to transfer our blog to a new host. And while our Grubtrotters motto is “chow, fun,” we also spent the past month recovering from a decidedly un-fun family health crisis that coincided with our nation’s economic collapse. We’ll spare you the details, but aside from being homebound making soups and stews and wallowing in despair, it was not the wisest or most seemly time to be spending money eating out.

But things are looking up on all fronts. The country has hope, and so do we. Onward, as Victor says. So to mark our return, I thought I’d share some thoughts on a story I wrote for DineLA.com called Hamburgers — The Recession-Proof Food.

To research this story, I sampled burgers all over the city. I tasted the classic steakburger at Apple Pan, the frozen-in-time Westwood joint with its cranky counter men wearing paper hats. I tried Five Guys, the East Coast chain with a cult following rivaling that of In-N-Out here, which just opened its first SoCal spot in Carson. I tried two of the fancy 8 oz. burgers from Govind Armstrong, who breaks down the meat on premises and ages it in a Himalayan salt locker before grilling it over oak wood. I spent a pretty penny concocting something special at The Counter in Marina Del Rey. And of course, I have eaten the animal style burger at In-N-Out, the Fatburger, The Original Tommy’s dripping mess of a chili burger and the famous Father’s Office burger.

Each of these burgers has its charms. Father’s Office still wins the prize for best burger at any cost. However, I have a new pick for best gourmet burger at a value. And let’s face it, we’re all looking for a bargain these days. Unless you live in the neighborhood, you probably haven’t stumbled across Hole in the Wall burger joint in West Los Angeles. Believe me, the name is appropriate. The address is on Santa Monica Blvd, but it’s tucked behind a Winchell’s Donut shop in the strip mall on the southeast corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda. To confuse you further, the entrance is actually on Bentley. You’d never find this place if you didn’t know it was there and might not even if you do.

But it’s worth the hunt. The owner, chef Bill Dertouzos, was the founder of Dainties Cupcakes, but he turned his attention to burgers when the cupcake competition grew too intense. “The city got flooded with cupcake stores, and every month I saw my market share cut in half,” says Dertouzos. Hole in the Wall shares space with his catering business, hence the odd location. The burgers here are not fast-food cheap, and you can’t get as many choices as you will find at The Counter. But the quality is incredible, and as Dertouzos points out, do you really need 300,000 burger combinations? He tried offering some fancier cheese options, such as brie, but they didn’t sell so well.

So now he sticks to the basics. You can get a beef, turkey or veggie burger on a pretzel, whole wheat or old-fashioned bun for $7.95. Pick from have a handful of topping options. Dertouzos makes his own pickles and condiments. The burgers are thick and delicious. The turkey burger, with its distinct fennel flavor, is so juicy that it’s hard to believe it’s turkey. His fries are made from Kennebec potatoes, and don’t get me started on the sweet potato fries. You’ll be eating it all at a casual sidewalk table.

I’m sure I won’t settle LA’s burger battle here. If you want your burger with gruyere in a fancy setting, head to The Counter with its modern decor and wine bar.  If you want to step into the past and taste an old-fashioned classic, try Apple Pan. But if you want a great gourmet burger without the frills or the Father’s Office pricetag, head to Hole in the Wall. You heard it here. – Jenny.

–Hole in the Wall, 11058 Santa Monica Blvd., at South Bentley Ave., 310.312.7013

–Father’s Office, 1018 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, 310.736.2224; 3229 Helms Ave, Culver City, 310.736.2224

–Five Guys, 20700 Avalon Blvd, Carson, 310.515.7700

–In-N-Out, multiple locations, www.in-n-out.com

–The Apple Pan, 10801 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, 310.475.3585

–8 oz. Burger Bar, 7661 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, 323.852.0008

–The Counter, 2901 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, 310.399.8383; 4786 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, 310.827.8600

–The Original Tommy’s, multiple locations, www.originaltommys.com

Photo of a burger from The Counter

If you name a place Delizia Cafe, the food had better deliver. Unfortunately, what they call food at Delizia is anything but delicious.

Victor and I had been stuck inside our Venice Beach pad most of Sunday and wanted to get outside for a nice walk and to grab a quick bite. I have bladed past Delizia many times since it opened last year and have always wanted to try it. Something about its modern outdoor decor, bright orange sign and simple Italian menu made it looked enticing. But clearly the boardwalk location is the only thing keeping this place hopping.

Delizia has sunset specials every night that include beer, drinks like sangria and what they call “tapas.” Perhaps the use of the Spanish word “tapas” instead of the Italian “cicchetti”  for small plates — not to mention the Spanish Sangria — should have tipped us off that this would be nothing like the Italian food we spent our honeymoon grazing on every day. The only authentically European thing about Delizia was the vast number of smokers. (Their palates must be burned out.)

We ordered the pizzette, cannellini crostini and four pieces of dark meat roasted chicken with greens and garlic. The four tiny squares of pizzette on thick bread ($5) barely resembled any pizza I had ever seen. It looked and tasted like it had been sitting around all day. The cheese was burnt. The toppings were dried out. One of the pieces tasted like cardboard. We complained to the waitress, and she said, “I’m sorry, should I bring some olive oil and vinegar to spice it up?” OK, but no amount of oil and vinegar was going to make this pizza edible. The Amy’s Organic and Trader Joe’s frozen pizzas at home are far superior, and that’s kind of scary.

The crostini topped with a mixture of white beans, onions and parsley ($5) was bland but edible. It also tasted like it had been mixed hours before and refrigerated. Clearly they don’t make the tapas fresh at Delizia. I splashed some vinegar on that just to kick it up a notch, too.

Next she brought out chicken, along with a supposedly “clean” plate that had bits of food still stuck to the surface. Vic’s plate was also dirty. At this point, I was a little afraid to eat the chicken. It was slightly pink in the middle, and I had visions of salmonella running through my brain. Victor was equally unimpressed by our meal.

Despite our trepidation, we asked for fresh plates and did eat the chicken ($10). It was moist and mildly spiced, accompanied by broccoli and greens that were drowning in lemon juice and chunks of garlic. It’s been an hour, and I haven’t gotten sick so far, but that’s probably the ony compliment I can generate. The roasted chicken at Ralph’s is much better.

If you’re on the Venice boardwalk and need to eat, head to Figtree’s Cafe or grab a sausage at Jody Maroni’s. I’m sad to say Delizia was the worst $23 we have spent on a meal in months. –Jenny.

Delizia Cafe and Catering, 301 Oceanfront Walk, Venice Beach

–Photo courtesy of YoVenice.com

Here is your chance to be on TV. The Food Network is developing a new show called “Eat The Clock” that is being billed as a culinary version of “The Amazing Race.”

The program plans to showcase chow buffs in different cities, including Los Angeles. We have the official pitch from the casting execs:

Are you are a connoisseur, critic, chef, aficionado, restaurant owner or are just in a serious love affair with food?

The Food Network is currently casting foodies of all kinds in the Los Angeles area to be a part of a fun and exciting new TV series!

The show focuses on two teams who race through many of LA’s culinary hot spots competing in challenges in the ultimate chowhound smack down!

It’s an amazing “food-adventure” race!

We are looking for high-energy, dynamic and competitive two-member teams (husband & wife, parent and child, two good friends, two co-workers, etc.) who are 25-45 and have some connection, knowledge or experience in the food industry. Who thought fighting for your next meal could be so fun?

Contact info:

Sam Kivi 818-255-9330

Pete Brophy  818-255-9329

food@beyondcasting.com

More proof of the power of food to bring two souls together. The LA food bloggers behind Oishii Eats and Eat Drink & Be Merry, met and fell in love over food and just got engaged. They detailed their food courtship (with lots of lovely photos) and announced the happy news on their blogs today. Congrats and best wishes to them. We asked whether these two food lovers will keep their blogs separate or join forces like we did. And apparently they are planning a joint blog and other food ventures. Our Chicago writer/foodie friends Claire Bidwell Smith and Greg Boose also got engaged recently and launched a joint blog called She Wrote, He Wrote, where they each detail their shared meals and experiences from their separate points of view. Couples that blog together stay together. At least, that’s the plan. – Jenny

We went back to Mozza Pizzeria recently for the first time in more than a year, and this time we shared the experience with four others — one veteran and three rookies. Here are some of their thoughts:

Setting
The one major complaint was that the music was too loud, which made conversation more of a strain than it should have been. Doris: “I don’t want accordions and ‘That’s Amore,’ but something less KROQ would have been better.”

Appetizers
Jason suggested the chopped salad, which he had tried on his previous visit. Doris: “Excellent. Great call.” The fried squash blossoms received thumbs-up around the table, but Matt was particularly impressed with the mussels. The shells were relatively small but the meat was plump, copious and tasty. Score.

Pizza
We ordered six and spread the wealth. The white anchovy pizza was particularly memorable from our first Mozza experience, and Doris reinforced that sentiment this time: “I liked the slight pickling of the fish, and the hot chili strips were a great contrast.”

Matt raved about the prosciutto pizza: “Better than the one I had in Rome!”

Cynthia loved the funghi pizza in particular and the dough of all the pizzas: “It was thin where you wanted the impact of the toppings but chewy and crunchy at the same time toward the ends.”

Dessert
Rosemary cookies were the biggest hit.

Last word
Cynthia: “In the end, really excellent food. Really expensive valet!!”

Mozza, 641 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles 90036. 323-297-0101

I don’t make it to Koreatown very often anymore. An ex of mine used to live there, and I’d rather not revisit those memories. Of course, when Josef Centeno was the chef at Opus, I did occasionally override my aversion. (Incidentally, I can’t wait to try Centeno’s new place, Lot 1 in Echo Park, and I hear he may still be chef at the upcoming Latin restaurant downtown called Casa. The more Centeno, the better.)

In any case, my Koreatown famine ended a few days ago when I had to visit the Chinese Embassy to get a visa for my trip to Hong Kong and Beijing next week. My visa adventure coincided with the lunch hour so I stopped off at Beverly Tofu House on Olympic, just west of Vermont. Lucky pick.

With valet costing just $1.50, I knew this was going to be a great deal. Beverly Tofu is an odd little spot resembling a woodsy cabin inside and out. It’s decorated with family-style picnic tables, with legs made from logs and hard wooden benches for seats. The attentive servers start you off with lovely Korean banchan: tiny bowls full of pickled cucumbers and turnips, a potato dish, cabbage floating in a bowl of spicy water, bean sprouts, spicy kimchi, which is fermented cabbage, and, of course, their signature tofu dish. The tofu was so delicate and ethereal, it was impossible for this Westerner to eat with chopsticks. Fortunately, they provided a spoon.

I ordered the seafood combo soon tofu, which is a steaming hot stew that arrives at your table popping and sizzling and spitting like a volcano about to erupt. Because this was my first visit, I ordered it medium spicy, which was perfect for my palate. It was loaded with tiny unshelled shrimp — heads and all — oysters, clams and mussels that tasted like they had just been snagged from the sea. The server cracked an egg right at the table and plopped into the center of the stew, which was so hot it cooked the raw egg on the spot. Watching those around me for guidance, I scooped out a few spoonfuls the stew into a little steel bowl full of rice, mixed it in and then took a bite.

Delicious. This meal was hearty, spicy and warm. I filed it away mentally as the perfect dish to have the next time I catch a cold. There was so much food, I couldn’t finish, which is rare for me. I’m sure the banchan is meant to be shared. Despite the vast quantities of grub for someone lunching solo, the meal was still light enough not to make me feel over-full. The kimchi, by the way, was wonderful, and you can buy it to go.

I’m not sure I’ll be going out of my way to drive from Venice to Koreatown very often, but the next time I find myself back there, I won’t hesitate to revisit this spot. –Jenny

Beverly Tofu, 2717 W. Olympic Blvd., 213-380-1113.

The DCK was better than the STK.

There is nothing wrong with that in and of itself. We’re huge duck fans, and Jenny’s order of duck breast with caramelized fennel, shallots and ginger confit was outstanding. But when the restaurant builds its name around the word, it needs to deliver a killer cut of steak. STK fell short in this regard. Our 20-ounce bone-in rib wasn’t terrible. It just wasn’t special. Again not to put too fine of a point on this, but if the name of your establishment is STK, you simply cannot allow other entrees to overshadow the quality of the red meat.

Perhaps the tipoff should have been the various steak sauces on the menu at $2 each. Hey, if you’re going to charge high-end steakhouse prices — the bone-in New York is $75 — the beef had better be perfectly seasoned when you put it on the plate in front of me. Extra for sauce? The nerve. It’s not the two bucks that bothers us. It is the idea behind it: We can slack on proper seasoning because we know these suckers will actually cover our lack of detail by coughing up extra for sauce. It’s like a car dealer charging extra for the keys.

In addition to the duck, the other highlight was an appetizer called Shrimp Rice Krispies, a tasty concoction of tiger prawns drenched in shrimp bisque with cilantro. This was a winner. But the dessert was a letdown. The server touted the bread pudding. We rarely turn down a chance to inhale every morsel of bread pudding, but this time we left half of it on our plate. Too much whipped cream. Most of all, though, the bread was hardly soaked with the stuff you need to soak it with. We would have panned this pudding anyway, but the intensity of our reaction was perhaps colored by an absolutely scrumptious version we enjoyed recently at Murano from just-departed Chef Kristi Richey. (Let’s hope they keep the same recipe on the menu there.)

Clearly STK is more sizzle than steak. We saw David Spade greeted by paparazzi on his way in. We caught a glimpse of Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer inside with his wife. We heard Lauren Conrad was there as well with Chace Crawford. Perhaps they were attending one of the three birthday parties featuring gaggles of women dressed like they were auditioning for “Sex and the City, the Next Generation.” The parking attendant confirmed there were other celebrities in the house. He was unsure about names but repeatedly said, “Lots of blondes, lots of blondes.” We saw plenty of them in the bar. If you’re a single guy, this should be prime pickings. The steak here was not a 10, but some of the implant work was. — Victor.

STK, 755 N. LaCienega, Los Angeles, 90069. 310-659-3535.

A source tells Grubtrotters that hot French Chef Christophe Eme at Ortolan is on the hunt for a TV gig. Eme is married to actress Jeri Ryan so he certainly has the connections. His menu is full of creative genius so he’s got the chops. The only barrier? Some insiders think he needs to soften the heavy French accent. Personally, I think the accent is sexy, and I’m guessing there are others out there who agree. Stay tuned. — Jenny

Los Angeles Times critic S. Irene Virbila gives BLT Steak two stars in this week’s Food section. I had my birthday dinner at BLT Steak’s Washington. D.C. location last year, with James Carville, surrounded by a bevy of blondes, sitting a few tables away. The meal was fantastic. Those cheese popovers are unbelievably addictive. We haven’t had the pleasure of eating a full meal at LA’s BLT Steak, located in the former Le Dome spot, but I did attend a cocktail party there recently, and the appetizers and charcuterie were delicious. I asked our waiter the secret to the gooey popovers, and his response was “eggs.” There’s practically an entire carton in each one. Irene warns readers to “go easy there or you’ll be leaving with a well-filled take-home bag.” Frankly, I don’t see the problem. Here’s her take on the steaks:

And here the beef comes in all its carnivorous glory. The BLT cut is a 32-ounce bone-in double sirloin, presumably for two. (That’s what the menu says.) And though it is very good, I think the Porterhouse outshines it. The latter, again for two, weighs in at 40 ounces, and at $79, i.e., under $40 a person, is priced lower than some others around town.

The cooking from chef de cuisine Noah Rosen, a veteran of Wilshire and Mélisse, is spot-on. Order your steak charred, medium rare, and it comes out exactly that. The thick 16-ounce New York strip is excellent too. But the real bargain is the hanger steak, 10 ounces of flavorful beef for a modest $24.

She reserves her highest praise for the desserts:

But this latest BLT Steak takes an original tack with the desserts. Here’s one steakhouse where the sweets truly deserve a place at the table. The sundae one night is so beautifully crafted we have to ask who the pastry chef is. It turns out she’s Danielle Keane, late of Wilshire in Santa Monica, where she initiated an ice cream social evening. Here, her desserts seem more polished and inventive.

I’m sure the desserts are wonderful, but whatever you do, don’t skip the popover to save room. Trust us on this one. –Jenny

It was girls night out at the new Father’s Office at the Helms Bakery Building in Culver City earlier this week. The second incarnation of this insanely trendy Santa Monica-born gastropub opened a month ago to massive hype and lines worthy of holidays at Disneyland. We figured some of the initial frenzy had probably died down by now, and, fortunately, we were right. My friends Janine and Kerith showed up at 6 p.m., and even though the place was buzzing, we had no trouble getting a table. What a refreshing change from the inaugural experience Victor and I had at the phone-booth-sized Father’s Office in Santa Monica. There we had to shovel in our burgers and beer standing up on one foot while using the other to kick away competitors. The Culver City space is much larger, with indoor and sidewalk seating, although the same rules apply. You order everything at the bar and take a plastic number back to your table to wait for delivery. No substitutions. No whining.

No reason to whine, really. The food is hearty and hand-licking delicious. All three of us ordered the burger. Of course. You have to get the burger. It’s legendary in size, spilling out of the bun, juicier than any Juicy Couture sweats and decadently dressed with sweet carmelized onions, bacon, Gruyere and Maytag blue cheese and arugula. My favorite part? No ketchup anywhere. I abhor ketchup. Always have. I had no trouble devouring the entire burger. And when Kerith filled up and sent the second half of hers away, I flagged down the server and snatched it back. I knew Victor would be pleased. He and I split the leftovers later.

FO’s side dishes get less attention, but man, oh man, were those Spanish mushrooms garlicky and good. Even the white anchovies were reminiscent of the ones we ate regularly on our honeymoon in Italy last September. After examining the impressive wall of beer, I washed all the pub grub down with a spicy, hoppy and fruity beer called the Russian River Brewing Damnation. Damn, was I happy. Sometimes you should believe the hype.

Father’s Office, 3229 Helms Ave., Los Angeles, 310-815-9820