If you’re on the internet, chances are you saw the video of the people’s princess, Chloe Sevigny, absolutely tearing the city of Los Angeles to shreds (sorry!). Her words were my soundtrack as I touched down for my annual escape-the-SAD pilgrimage to the City of Angels, and now that I’m back in my (and Chloe’s) rightful home, I’m struck by a few things. Los Angeles is a deeply weird place teeming with contradictions; blindingly sunny with some of darkest corners you’ll encounter (nothing hits quite like slurping down oysters at Found in the shadow of the Scientology Celebrity Center). It’s sprawling and claustrophobic. The water is so hard, yet everyone’s hair looks good (except mine). There are too many doughnut shops for a city whose main industry is full of people who have to specify when they’re eating “chewing food.” But you’re not here for musings on a city you probably don’t live in—you’re (hopefully) here for the food. I ate a lot of great food in this city, some familiar and some new, and a lot of it inspiring. Today, we’ve got my LA highlights, plus a menu for the best kind of plans: no plans <3
RECC CENTER
Gaby’s Reccs
What’s cooking:
I made a lovely rigatoni alla Norma situation this week with basic tomato sauce (whole peeled tomatoes, crushed and cooked down with olive oil, oregano, basil), roasted cubes of eggplant and chunks of mozzarella (some tiny and some bigger, which I’m convinced makes for a more exciting eating experience). I served it with an herby frisée salad with shallot dressing — more details on that below.
What I’m eating:
Coqodaq rocked. The $38 chicken bucket situation comes with a bunch of banchan, two types of fried chicken, 4 incredible sauces, a scallion salad, plus a tiny cup of broth to start and a tiny bowl of noodles to (almost) finish. The real finish is another cup, that one paper and filled with tart frozen yogurt and a slightly sweet blueberry sauce. Perfect meal.
What I’m reading/watching/consuming:
After visiting Salt Lake City I decided it was finally time to watch season 4 of Real Housewives of SLC. And damn. You guys were right about it deserving recognition from the Academy.
On my radar:
I put Frog Club on my radar so that you could take it off yours. You’re welcome, xoxo <3
Court’s Reccs
What’s cooking:
The same improvised version of this salad composed of the following California farmer’s market spoils: any and all citrus, fennel and avocado—all sliced thin—mint and toasted pistachios if you got ‘em, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of fruity olive oil.
sunshine in a salad
What I’m eating:
*record scratch* I bet you’re wondering how I went through an entire bottle of Lactaid in a a week. Here’s how. My LA highlight reel includes: Inexplicably good shio koji ice cream from Iki Ramen; A slice of perfect chocolate cream pie from Apple Pan; A crispy cheese slice from Quarter Sheets taken “to-go” and eaten inches from the door while impatient “to-stay” crowds looked on longingly. The best damn kalbi and banchan at Parks BBQ; Tahdig from Kismet that tastes like buttered popcorn (our new Valentine’s Day tradition); A towering turkey sandwich from Wax Paper; And life-altering pistachio ice cream from Fluffy McCloud’s, which has my official nomination for Best New I-Don’t-Care-If-It’s-Not-Really-A-Restaurant in the city.
heaven is a place on earth, and it’s fluffy mccloud’s
What I’m reading/watching/consuming:
All of the Frog Club content gave me immediate fatigue, and despite being the “New Yorkiest room in New York,” the whole thing feels distinctly Angeleno is its skin-deep charade. Instead, I’m cleansing my palate with this hilarious, scathing profile that feels like the perfect button on both Scandoval at large and my time in LA.
On my radar:
Apollo Bagels, opening in my neighborhood any minute now. As if I needed another reminder why I love this godforsaken city, a permanent home for the wood-fired bagels is very good news for all New Yorkers.
Real ones know that I now have a huge jar of sourdough starter that sits on my counter waiting for me to feed it flour and water every morning. Part of that process includes me dumping a ton of it into the trash to give it space to grow again, but last weekend I decided to dump that extra cup or so into a bowl, mix it with eggs, olive oil, maple syrup and cinnamon, and dust off the waffle iron I haven't touched in a year. (I’ll admit I was inspired by everyone’s favorite person to hate: the billionaire-ballerina-Mormon-mom-farmer.) I followed this recipe instead, which yielded perfectly round, golden brown, crispy and slightly tangy waffles. The first bite with salty butter, a few blueberries and more maple syrup was out of this world. -GS
This salad is technically easy enough to make any day of the week and would actually work very well in a pinch if you had lots of plans and needed a quick dinner, but for those same reasons, it’s the perfect side to any larger weekend cooking projects you’re taking on with all your free time. The dressing is luscious and creamy but also sharp and clean, and is so easy and fun (I love throwing a whole shallot into the blender) to make. Miss Gabbriette tosses hers with frisée and romaine and butter lettuce, but I opted to replace the romaine with gorgeous strips of purple radicchio. The hazelnuts are a nonnegotiable, but I left out the artichokes because I served this with my aforementioned rigatoni alla Norma (see above). -GS
’s stuffed shells, which require you to chop and cook and drain greens, cook pasta before filling it with a cheese mixture (that you also have to make) and then baking it with sauce and breadcrumbs (that you make), would be the perfect thing to serve that simple salad above. I haven’t actually made these yet, or any stuffed shells ever actually, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them lately and think this is where I’ll start. If you’ve made them, leave me a comment with some notes please. -GS
One Big Bowl of Rice Krispies Treats
You may have seen the popcorn Rice Krispies treats on your FYP, and apologies to your bag of fluorescent microwave popcorn, but I’m gonna stick to cereal. I am, however, reconsidering why I ever futzed around with transferring the sticky mixture from a bowl to a baking pan and pressing it into tightly packed squares when I know I’m gonna eat the whole batch myself anyways. What better way to celebrate staying in than by digging into a bowl full of brown buttery Rice Krispies treats, or better yet, our incredible Black Sesame Rice Krispies Treats. And sorry to the NYT recipe, but the sweet nuttiness of black sesame paste is a must-have (I get mine at Ten Ichi, where the Japanese version comes sweetened with honey, but black tahini works too). -CK
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