{Eating, Home, Travel}

The Artist’s Way

1.26.10

mkpottery


Among the friends I count myself lucky to have in Los Angeles is Mirena Kim, the woman responsible for this wonderful pottery. She is an artist, whose aesthetic extends to everything she touches. Simple, soulful and subtle, with an underlying warmth, it is also a reflection of her persona. Not only did I get to visit her home studio, but there I was treated to a fantastic lunch. Born in Korea and raised in Los Angeles, Mirena was the person who introduced me to Korean food (and taught me what to order in New York’s Korean barbecue restaurants) and first brought me to the huge Asian supermarket (and food court) in downtown L.A. We are kindred spirits who share a love of cooking, art, textiles, domesticity and a good laugh. Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Travel}

The Empire Strikes Back

1.25.10

baldy


I’ve entered the Inland (aka Evil) Empire, my sister’s lair that lies northeast of Los Angeles. Living at the foot of Mount Baldy makes for some impressive scenery. Looking up, your gaze rises from arid, sunny chapparal to snowy peaks. Also known as Mount San Antonio or Old Baldy (so-called for the lack of trees at its summit), the tallest point is at about 10,000 feet above sea level, making it the highest in the San Gabriel mountains. The Tongva Indian tribe call the mountain Yoát or Joat, which means snow. It’s splendid and majestic, lording it over this flat plain. Susi and Seth treated us to a delicious dinner of a garlicky stew of root vegetables with fennel-spiked turkey meatballs and a crisp endive salad. For dessert, Seth made a variation on one of my favorite cakes, with whole oranges and almond flour (gluten-free!)—I actually posted the recipe here some months back. His version also includes whole lime. I’ll bet you can modify the recipe with all manner of citrus—tangerines, grapefruit, yuzu—to great effect. The inclusion of the whole fruit, rind and all (boiled until soft), contributes an interesting note of bitterness to this dense, not-too-sweet cake. Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Travel}

Fiesta

1.23.10

glutton

photo by george billard

There’s nothing better than celebrating with friends, is there? My favorite part about visiting LA is seeing my old pals, just surrounding myself with a big group of them and basking in their familiar and fabulous auras. I also love to cook for my friends so that’s what I did yesterday. Made enchiladas, a dish my mother often served at large dinner parties. Although I love them with red chile sauce, I decided to make the ones with green tomatillo sauce. You can see the recipe here. I bought out all the tomatillos from the Whole Foods on Fairfax.

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{Eating, Travel}

Who’ll Stop the Rain?

1.22.10

gjelina


It’s blustery and cold in Los Angeles. Last week they were crowing about their perfect weather. Temperatures soared into the 80s. I set foot on the tarmac and it starts pissing with rain. But I’m sure it’s not personal. LA and I have a longstanding affair. The delicious food and quirky star sightings will do for now. Lisa took me to a great restaurant for lunch on Abbot Kinney in Venice: Gjelina. It’s new since I was last here and it was packed to the gills with lanky surfer types (probably working in graphic design) and impossibly thin girls in floaty cardigans and sandals. Gjelina embraces the current reclaimed aesthetic with vintage wood walls and light fixtures cobbled together from old bulbs and pipes. Very steampunk, very Billyburg. The food sits somewhere between AOC and Mozza, with lots of small plates and 14 types of pizza from the wood-burning oven. The menu reads like a who’s who of the locavore ingredient elite: burrata, persimmon, sunchokes, housemade chorizo, anaheim chiles. We were hard-pressed to make up our minds. In the end, we started with a lovely, light salad of escarole and sunchokes with preserved lemon, smoked almonds and shaved parmesan.


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{Eating, Travel}

City of Angels

1.21.10

kale


Air travel can now be lumped in with some of life’s worst experiences, along with root canals and visiting the post office. I think it’s safe to say I will never book another ticket on Delta. Not only did we have to pay to check one suitcase apiece, but G got hammered with another $90 because his bag was 7 pounds over their maximum. Imagine how much revenue they could generate if they charged for the excess weight around most of their customers’ waistlines instead! In-flight headphones? Another charge. Crappy “snacks” that no one should be eating anyway? Get out your wallet. Sadly, we did not board with our usual stash of tasty treats, so we were forced to make do with a bag of trail mix and some water. This made dinner in LA something to look forward to with relish. Driving through torrential rains to our friend Lisa’s fab Spanish-style triplex in West Hollywood, I had AOC on the brain. It’s the second restaurant of much-lauded chef Suzanne Goin, a woman with an inspired palate and the face of an elfin angel. Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Travel}

This Little Piggy

1.20.10

nails


After a long day of work meetings and running around the city (and, yes, a mani/pedi with the Chanel “Black Satin” nail polish I have been hoarding for 2 years), I returned to the Ace and decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at The Breslin to see if I could experience what the fuss is all about. A you may recall, I tried their burger and excellent thrice-cooked fries from room service. And I also had some airy pumpkin pancakes with melted chile butter at brunch the next day that I really can’t complain about. But much has been written about the alleged nose-to-tail eating at this joint, so I wanted to root around in the menu a bit more. As it turns out, I snarfled down quite a panoply of delights, so if you’re thinking of making the trek to 29th and Broadway, press on, gentle reader. Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Garden, Health, Home, Travel}

Extra Credit

1.19.10
laurasilvermanphoto by george billard

I was lucky enough to be featured on a really wonderful website/blog that I have mentioned before and of which I am truly enjoying being a part: food52. I’m so thrilled to be singled out by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, two cooks and writers whose recipes and career trajectories I admire greatly. The spotlight has brought some new visitors to gluttonforlife, some of them bloggers as well, and I want to welcome one and all. So thanks again for your support and kind words. They mean the world to me.

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{Eating, Travel}

Mo’ Momofuku

1.19.10
spicyricephoto by george billard (taken with his iphone)

You can take the girl out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the girl…especially when she’s stuffing it back in with both hands! No better place than Momofuku Ssam Bar to remember what it’s like to eat somebody else’s cooking. We chowed down on David-Chang-deliciousness and it was yet another flawless dining experience, from cocktails to cookies. You know all about the place already, right? So I don’t have to tell you that you’ll eat hunched over at the bar on a hard stool, gazing at strange ’70s art featuring John McEnroe and rocking out to loud music. It’s all part of a funky, stripped-down dining experience that really wakes up your senses. So glad they’ve now got a full bar and mixed drinks on their extensive alcohol menu. I’ve written before about the truly wonderful “Penicillin;” even posted the recipe for you here. Smoky Scotch + ginger syrup + lemon juice = divinity. It outshined the Wild-Turkey-based “Gold Rush” I had last night, if you ask me. Here’s what we ate: Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Travel}

Such a Dal

1.11.10
pilgrimphoto by george billard

You may have seen Mark Bittman’s piece about eating legumes in the Times last week. He provided some excellent and simple recipes, like spiced red lentil dal, and mung bean dal with apples and coconut. He talked about the typical Indian way of finishing these dishes by stirring in an extra flavor booster—cream, butter, fried onions or nuts. (Apparently this is called a “tarka.”) It reminded me of a dish I was obsessed with during our visit to India, a thick and spicy stew of black lentils enriched with cream. I first had it in Jaipur, that magical city of bazaars and bangles and precious stones and yellow marigolds. We were staying at the Oberoi Rajvilas, one of the world’s most outstanding hotels. Peacocks roamed the grounds outside our luxurious “tent,” and one night we collapsed into our enormous, pillowy bed to watch “Ghandi” and eat room service. What arrived was this incredible daal makhani, fragrant with ginger and chile, rich with ghee.


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{Eating, Travel}

Booty Call

1.9.10

fela1


Fela is astonishing! One of the most vibrant and uplifting theatrical experiences you will ever see. You should treat yourself to a night out. The show has migrated from off-Broadway to the Eugene O’Neill theatre on 49th Street. Some heavyweight producers have signed on (Jay-Z, Will and Jada Smith) and luminaries in our packed house included Spike Lee (yes, wearing a baseball cap) and Oprah BFF Gayle King (sporting a Michele Obama-esque waist-cincher). Written by Jim Lewis and directed and choreographed by the legendary Bill T. Jones, this music and dance extravaganza is about Fela Anikulap-Kuti, the Nigerian creator of Afrobeat, a unique synthesis of highlife jazz, James Brown and traditional African rhythms. We saw Sahr Ngaujah in the taxing lead role, but some nights Kevin Mambo takes over. Apparently he is just as good. As incredible as Sahr is, and as smokin’ as is the on-stage band, the show for me was all about the nine female dancers. They represent the 28 women who worked and toured with Fela, all of whom he married in one big ceremony.


fela


Their performances are centered around their incredibly regal attitudes and their amazing booties, constantly rotating and shaking to the beat. The colorful and sexy costumes (designed by Marina Draghici, who is also responsible for the fine set), and the extraordinary makeup, are like the vivid plumage on rare birds. Their bodies range from Amazonian to tiny, from sinewy to well-muscled; they are all strong and supple and gorgeous.


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