HFF On The Road: Los Angeles, Ca

First an apology for my lack of posting. It's been hectic.

I went down to Los Angeles to get away, visit friends, eat, drink, and spend money. I wanted to experience a whole different food environment then what we get up here. I wanted glitz, tradition, and technique. I wasn't disappointed (too much) in that regard. Basically, I wanted to escape the "food assembly" approach to cuisine that is so omnipresent in Bay Area dining.

I didn't keep terribly detailed records, so I can only give a rough idea of how much was spent at each establishment.

First food stop (after a marathon early-morning drive) was Quality Food & Beverage (8030 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles). I knew I was in LA when the gentleman at the table across from us (I made the trip with my friend and co-worker Ziya) ordered (without menu) "a latte with soy and the BLT with one slice of lettuce and one slice of tomato." The menu here is eclectic with an international bent. Their emphasis is on omelettes, scrambles, and other egg dishes though they have a diverse array of salads and sandwiches. Though it's not touted too prominently, Quality also uses fresh and organic ingredients.

I went for the roasted eggplant and feta omelette--strangely I had to REQUEST for whole eggs to be used (the default for this one was whites only). It was great. Nice and fresh, not over-filled but with a good mix of ingredients. The homefries were also excellent--cooked through without being overly crispy on the outside. My side of fresh fruit was also very nice--generous and fresh. The fruit had actual flavor instead of the usual monotone melon melange that comes at most breakfast joints.

Ziya opted for the eggs benedict. The eggs were poached nicely (albeit in a poaching dish--how many places actually poach directly in water anymore?) with a great hollandaise sauce. Thick slices of pan-fried ham welcomely replaced often rubbery Canadian bacon. We also split a side of enormous blueberry pancakes that were nice but a bit dense--neither a light and fluffy cake or a thick flavorful cake. Nothing remarkable. A solid breakfast place with a great and varied selection. Reasonable priced--I think our total bill was around $40 for two serious entrees, two sides, and two coffees. Not bad for being stuffed. This isn't really a reservation-y place. I'm told the weekend brunches are extraordinarily busy.

We continued on our sojourn after checking into our east Hollywood motel by meeting up with some friends at Birds (5925 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles). This place proved to be a bust. It was described to me as a hip, low-key hangout with great food away from the West Hollywood/Sunset Strip madness. It is hip, in a great part of a town (a little shopping and dining stretch of Franklin across from the Church of Scientology) but the food is one-note and the epitome of mediocre.

We waited just a few minutes and were sat at a nice busy table in the center of the restaurant. We were greeted promptly, which is fine, except that our server expected us to be ready to order after 30 seconds at the table. We ordered drinks to start--martini for Ziya and a Guinness for me. I was surprised that such a destination spot (the bar was packed with folks watching the NCAA Championship game) had a mediocre beer list, shitty wines, and a liquor selection only marginally better than Club Mallard.

Birds specializes in rotisserie chicken, but I just can't bring myself to get what I know is going to be good, salty, overseasoned chicken. I know what it's going to taste like. I wanted to try something a bit unusual, but everything was pretty much the same: chicken, burgers, and wraps. I went for the shrimp caesar wrap, Ziya the "cajun" shrimp wrap. For sides I opted for the garlic mashed potatoes and Ziya the baked beans.

The first major problem came from us staring at our food sitting under heatlamps for a good five-plus minutes before being brought out. That sucked. My wrap was okay for what it was, assembled out of Sysco ingredients. Ziya's was similar. There's not much to comment on just because it was so unexciting. Something has to be striving for greatness (or even competency) for it to even be worth commenting on. There has to be someone making the food who cares, and nobody at Birds does.

While the wraps were mediocre, the sides were terrible. My potatoes tasted not a whiff of garlic and they had the conistency of reconstituted dried mashed potatoes. Ziya's beans were watery and bland. I found the terribleness of our side dishes distressing, given the menu's focus on their rotisserie chickens and the accompanying sides.

I'd say avoid Birds in general--there are plenty of places in and around that area that provide infinitely better food. I wouldn't even go there for the bar scene unless it's your local place--there's nothing their bar has that a small sports bar doesn't. The entire vibe of Birds, from the bar to the food, is TGI Friday's Lite.

So after that and a hit-and-miss sojourn into the Hollywood bar scene we slept for the night. The next morning we hit out for Studio City for what would turn out to be the best sushi of our lives. Sushi Katsu-ya (11680 Ventura Blvd., Studio City) is sitting unassumingly in a strip mall a couple miles from the highway. The first indication that this was a destination spot was when we pulled up to the improbably valet parking station (complimentary, probably to soothe the accessibility concerns of the neighboring businesses). We were warmly greeted by seemingly every staff member when we entered and were promptly seated at the sushi bar. We went with a few nigiri to start (tuna, yellowtail, and salmon). The fish was hands-down the freshest I've had. Period. Not just in sushi. Small pieces, but reasonably priced at two pieces per order. We were curious about the "super toro" which the sushi preparer told us was an extra-fatty tuna. This one tasted a bit fishy and didn't seem even as fatty as regular toro that I've had before.

We next tried some of the hot (more or less) specials. Almond scallops were phenomenal. Four sea scallops crusted with sliced almond (completely), served with a nice tempura sauce. Great dish. We also had seared albacore sliced thin with a tangy citrus-soy dressing and covered with small pieces of crispy-fried onion. The flavors interwove smoothly. Presentation was beautiful. Our last dish was cripsy spicy tuna--essentially a slice of tempura crusted rice with raw spicy tuna (almost a touch smoky) and a slice of crispy fresh jalapeno. Nice. Nothing extraordinary there, but really really tasty.

Katsuya's food was simply the best because it was fresh and artfully presented. The flavor combinations were simple yet challenging--they had my palate doing somersaults. Our bill here for two was around $80.

Our final gourmet stop was sort of a happy accident--we happened to be in the Valley at the time and ended up at Brandywine (22757 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills). We had set ourselves up with reservations at a few different places, not sure where we'd be and when. Though this might not have been the hippest or trendiest spot, it was fucking phenemonal. This place was the oldest old school Continental dining that I've been too. We were greeted by the owner/host/waiter and, after a moderate wait so as to get a better table, were seated in the warm, opulent dining room at a flawlessly appointed table. A guitarist sat in the corner playing quietly.

The dining room was small (about 30 or so seats) and full, though most of the crowd (older) were finishing up their meals. Tuxedoed servers move around delivering food, clearing tables, and serving wine. We ordered an excellent (and reasonable) Sancerre. The host came over to the table with the chalkboard menu. An extensive list of French, Italian, and Spanish specialities with many Mediterranean influences as well. Prices were reasonable though with an expansive range for entrees ($20 for the veggie dish to $45 for the N.Y. Steak--$79 for the Chateaubriand for two). As starters we got the sauteed wild mushrooms, the roasted eggplant salad, and the escargot. The mushrooms were tender and wondrously aromatic of garlic, parsley, white wine, and butter. The escargots were the best I've had (I've only had it on 3 or 4 occasions). The snails were tender, not the least bit chewy, and presented in a way that even made our initially repulsed dining partner try one herself. Ziya and I both agreed that the roasted eggplant salad was the best salad that we've had. Peppery arugula was topped with a sizeable portion of sweet and smoky roasted eggplant. Flavors were simple, fresh, and big.

As an entree I got the frogs' legs provencale. This consisted of 14 (yes, 14) legs sauteed with tomatoes, garlic, and parsley. The legs were small, delicate, and flavorful--sort of a mix of great chicken and great springwater. Not a touch of chewiness. Ziya went for the New York steak. A massive cut of meat (at least 20 ounces) finished off tableside on a cart with a burner (it has some French name that I forget), sliced, covered with a rich mushroom au jus, and served with a side of frites. Being that I (admittedly half-assedly) maintain a no beef/lamb/mutton/veal component to my diet, I did not partake. Ziya said that it was the best piece of meat that he'd had and the presentation was flawless despite the lack of vegetables.

Though stuffed, we had to try the Meyer lemon pudding cake which was just that--somewhere between pudding and cake with bright, slightly tart Meyer lemon flavor.

I wholeheartedly recommend Brandywine, even though it is very very traditional. Other than the fish options (salmon, halibut, and John Dory--all fresh), nothing on the menu is necessarily "fresh and local" in the California Cuisine sense, but it was all top-quality and prepared flawlessly. I want to go back desperately since I used this opportunity to try my French favorites that are so hard to get here. The fish preparations all sounded fabulous and I honestly wanted to try all the appetizers. Caesar and warm spinach salads prepared tableside also sound like a can't miss. While this place is expensive, by and large you're going to be getting portions that are nearly twice the size of anything you'll get here. Our final bill for three (three entrees--two of those the steak, three starters, two bottles of wine, one dessert, one coffee) was somewhere in the neighborhood of $250. Which all said is not bad for an enormous meal elbowed its way into my personal top three. As a last thumbs-up for Brandywine, they had a small but excellently thought-out winelist with a great selection of bottles for under $40. This place did everything right.

On my next LA trip I'm going to hit-up more of the trendy spots on the westside and also do a surveying of late-night options. On the docket are the 101 Cafe and Fred 62 in Hollywood. Trendy spot possibilities are Sushi Roky and Katana in West Hollywood. It's a different food scene down there, and it's fun.

For you loyal HFF readers, coming up will be a full review for Pizzaiolo and some quickies on spots in SF.