Hello!  You found it!

Welcome to The Secret Door, a collection of my favorite restaurants, hidey holes and places to hang out in Los Angeles and around the country.  Feel free to peruse the page, or journey out and find any one of the locations... I'll probably see you there!

LOS ANGELES

EAT

Psy Street Kitchen

15030 Ventura Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 91403

Can we talk angry chefs?

Ever have one of those days where you forgot to eat in the morning? This was me when I stumbled on Psy Street. An eclectic little street kitchen that is all kosher in the heart of a tiny strip mall on Ventura, this is a blink and you'll miss it kind of place. But the interior is warm and homey, run by some Israeli homeboys who really know home cooking. They basically have burgers (lamb, beef, salmon, chicken - no pork, obviously) and amazing salads and sides. I had the eggplant mess which was this insane babaganoushy mess (as advertised) with a harvest salad, which was warm and wonderful with a tahini vinagrette and some lovely grilled chicken. Add a fried egg to any burger and Go!

Dune

3143 Glendale Blvd LA, CA 90039

10a-10p everyday

eat@dune.kitchen

Can we talk about how easy it is to screw up falafel?

Atwater is at that interesting juncture when artists, bohemians and hipsters start rolling over from being the early adapters to being the real identity of a place. The strip is making a turn from the thrift and liquor store drive by to a destination find defined by All'acqua, Proof Bakery, Journeymen, and of course Dune. Nestled in the middle of the street under an unassuming grey awning, the gold writing on the windows welcomes you in a 19th century barbershop style.  As you enter, the smells of zatar and seared chicken fills the small interior and you can spot what you want on the laminated card menus or the foodstuffs jotted up on the mirror. It's mainly Mediterranean fare, sandwiches or plates deeply piled with seared or fried chicken, lamb or beef. Their falafel is lovely. They’re not dry, or dusty, or herby, or broken or any of the normal sins of falafel visited upon the son of the seventh son. And they are what Dune is known for, crunchy and bright with strong flavors of lemon, garlic, chickpea and fresh parsley. Scott Zwiezen who also created the vegetarian restaurant Elf knows his way around a vegetable and so he gives you distinct flavor layers that made an Egyptian friend of mine very happy.  The falafel is especially nice on the Meze plate, which is a melange of just about everything they make at Dune. The pita comes freshly made, hot from the oven, next to the chicken which was beautifully cooked. The pickles are crunchy and acidy, while the black olives are strongly bitter in just the right way. Add a bit of the refreshing cabbage salad to cleanse your palate in between bites, and perhaps head back in for a slice of bakalava for dessert. 

Plan Check (Sawtelle location is better)

1800 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

1130a-10p

can we talk Burgers y’all? Burgers.

There are two burgers in the world. The one that you think you see and the one that you actually see. The one that you think you see is the one that appears daily to you out of the corner of your eye, in McDonalds commercials, or Arby's or Burger King or Chili's or any number of the innumerable fast food joints that spend a million dollars a minute to keep your eye on just this burger, just this onion ring, just this piece of bacon. The thing is,  they are trying to get you hungry enough to come into the joint (I won't deign to call it a restaurant) and eat something that tastes vaguely what you think that image might taste like. It's a cognitive disconnect and makes people have a great eye for what a great burger looks like, but no actual feel for what a great burger tastes like.  Not so with Plan Check, which has both the aesthetics down pat, as well as a superior burger.

I was hungry when I stumbled into Plan Check, not ready for the tastes that I was going to have, so when I was hit with the combo of their chef's special burger, I was quite blown away. First of all, let's talk about two different kinds of cheese. One melty and traditional, bending over the pure beef patty, and the other a crispy cheese, that added not only a deeply sharp cheddar taste, but a mouth feel that was off the chain. Now let's talk ketchup leather. That's trademarked by Plan Check. It's a process that makes the ketchup into something more akin to a fruit roll up. I dug it, but it's not for everyone. I like it because it gives you a really fantastic ketchup taste, without jacking up the bun. And can we talk about the bun for a second?

Because of the no-carb, lo-carb, gluten free, I just don't like bread movement in LA, I feel like the bread that you do get is thrown on like an afterthought. It's treated as a handle to hold the food that people have actually concentrated on, not something that can complete or take away from the meal. At Plan Check they've thought about this.  The burger is, of course, superior. But the bun is sublime. Just the right amount of crisp and soft and dammit-I'm-having-bread-today-even-though-it's-outside-of-diet goodness. And did I mention that they have two different types of bacon on this burger? Not two slices. Two different types. But no one needs to upsell bacon. It's topped off with a fried egg. Because, why not. Go get one. Aren't you hungry yet?

Yai

5757 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

11a-10:15p

Can we talk traditional?

First of all, the one issue with the signage for Yai is that you might not be able to decipher the Thai script that adorns the outside of this hole in the wall. The second is that this is an all cash joint, so bring some, or stop by the 7-11 in the parking lot and grab some.  My favorite experience at Yai, (apart from any number of "you going? I'm going." phone calls with various friends to meet up at the hole in the wall by the 101) is when I came in and saw a full on silver-eyed monk sitting in the corner in front of a bevy of Thai dishes. He had on the saffron robes, the prayer beads, the whole 9 yard get up. He was sampling from these tiny silver containers in front of him - what seemed like a selection of everything that Yai had to offer. And I remember thinking, in true testament to how good the Thai cuisine at Yai is, "Lucky. Maybe I should become a monk." Yes, the Thai food is so good here, that for a moment, I considered a vow of chastity, poverty and devotion to Buddha just to get all the food of Yai laid out in front of me. Yai's food is down home Thai from the North part of the country. They have very few dishes that cater to a Western palate and when you determine spice you should go by this chart:

Mild: This is kinda hot

Medium: Wow. That's really really hot. I need to get another Thai ice tea.

Hot: Jesus, I can't feel my lips.

Extra Spicy: Okay, so we're doing this...

I highly recommend getting 'morning glory.' It's a Thai dish that's a simple green vegetable in garlic sauce. It has a similar light bitterness to spinach mixed with a lovely sweet overtone and a satisfying crunch. The catfish salad is spectacular and they are renowned for their crab fried rice. They have an alternate pad thai called "Khon Kaen", named after the city, usually listed as "KK" on the handy white board on the wall. This is a beautifully constructed pad thai with tofu strips, fat shrimp and a light dusting of chili powder for heat. All the panangs and curries are wonderful, I have never gone wrong with anything that I've tried there. Say a mantra and go!

Arroy Foodtruck

3rd Street and Grand - Downtown

Lunchtime

Can we talk what it feels like eating sin?

Arroy is the only foodtruck that I have driven away from the location, tried a bite in the comforts of my car and immediately driven back to let the chef know just how good the food I just tasted was. They are to Thai food what the Kogi truck is to Korean. An offshoot of Buddha Belly restaurant, the truck can be found at 3rd and Grand downtown. The best of what they have are these Thai spicy sliders that are really exquisite and worth the inevitable line. Also, you can do the healthy option like I do with just a vegetable curry, and you will never go wrong. So take a trip to downtown and see what these guys have to offer. Go.

Echigo

12217 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

Lunchtime and Dinnertime

Can we talk about what it means to eat something correctly?

How many times do you chew? Soy sauce or not? Pinto or black beans? Noodles or rice in your chili? And on and on.

So if you’ve watched Seinfeld you are aware of the Soup Nazi. Here in LA we have one too. But the amazing chef who runs Echigo is the Sushi Nazi. He is adamant about how his fish is to be eaten. So don’t pile the wasabe into your soy sauce like some gaijin from a James Clavell novel and stir it up until you have that green brown sludgy mixture you think makes you multicultural. That’s not how it’s done. This is why:

1. It’s not pretty. Look at the sushi. Japanese prize pretty presentation. Balance, Seasonality, Empty Space, Arrangement. You think wasabe slush fits into this mix? No.

2. It makes the wasabe taste terrible. This is true even if they are essentially using green colored Chinese mustard instead of Wasabe.

3. It ruins the taste of the soy sauce.

So with those tenets in mind, go and get the Omakase and listen when he says, “No soy sauce please!” That is the Japanese ultra-polite way of saying “Eat! Or no sushi for you! One year!” The butterfish melts in your mouth like, well, butter. And the blue crab hand roll is something to be experienced. Go.

PINE and crane

1521 Griffith Park Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Lunchtime and Dinnertime

Can we talk about the mastery of the veggie?

Here’s the thing. Pine and Crane, though you can find it under ‘Chinese Food’ in your local Yelp search, is not in fact Chinese food. It is, in fact, Taiwanese Food. Taiwanese cuisine, although it dovetails and rhymes with Chinese cuisine, has some distinct differences. These differences are based in the cultural history of the two countries (or if you follow the viewpoint of mainland China, one country). China claims that Taiwan is part of their country, while Taiwan adamantly states that they are independent and declare themselves the Republic of China. Add to this a dash of geo politics and you get some claiming that Taiwanese cuisine is a subset of Chinese cuisine, while others claim that it is it’s very own thing.

Adding to the confusion is there is really no such thing as ‘Chinese Food’. There are so many regions of China experimenting with so many different cooking methods, dishes and derivations that to house it all under one “everything-with-rice-and-soy-is Chinese-food” is truly a useless exercise. Chinese cuisine has eight different regional variations; Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan, and Zhejiang cuisines. Sometimes people also club Singaporean, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Indian and American Chinese Foods under the Chinese straw umbrella. But for our purposes let’s just compare Taiwanese to the formal eight culinary traditions of China.

Taiwanese cuisine tends to favor seafood over the “eat everything but the squeal” traditions in mainland Chinese cuisine. It favors broths and simple steamed and fried dumplings or ‘jiao tze’. They claim to have invented Boba or Bubble Tea, which I thank them for on the regular. Their cuisine tends to be on the sweeter side, and not that spicy. It tends to pull influences from the sour noodles of Fujian province, the simple dishes of Okinawa from when the two countries used to trade and some of the traditions of Japanese cuisine from when the Japanese occupied the island. Now, after your little primer, how does that all shake out in Pine and Crane?

Well, P & C is a beautiful pearl of a Taiwanese restaurant. Not only are they Taiwanese regional, which you are not going to get without an hour trip to Arcadia or Monterey Park, but they have beautiful family recipes, with the Nai Nai of the family folding jiao tze and pan fried pork buns by hand, framed by the doorway to the small kitchen in the back. Low clean line tables and a loud atmosphere greet you once you make it through the inevitable lines as you order mounds of pea shoots and spinach which are served fresh and bright green with a hint of garlic and soy. The Dan Dan noodles are my favorite thing on the menu, wonderful, spicy and sour, and they accompany the Three Cup Jidori Chicken beautifully which seems to have overtones of 5 spice powder and subtle curry flavors. The mapo tofu, my canary in the coal mine of whether a Chinese or Taiwanese restaurant is good, is tasty with lots of flavors that hit the back of palette, but which doesn’t have the outright spiciness of a Sichuan mapo tofu. Nor does it really get the ‘mala’ right. Drinks are in abundance here, beers on tap and the aforementioned bubble teas. And with a Tsingdao swig, the noodles taste even better.

All in all P & C is worth the wait, worth the line and the somewhat loud atmosphere. It’s good for kids, groups and a good night out, although you might have to wait quite a bit longer to fit a large group at the tables which tend to have folk lingering over the last shreds of Dan Dan sauce. Go!

Hinoki and the Bird

Can we talk about drama and style?

There are certain odd spaces in Los Angeles that feel like you’re in a Hollywood movie. Some make you feel like you’re entering a Sci Fi epic, or Meryl Streep Drama, or that you just stepped onto the backstage area of Fast and the Furious 17. But they’re all joined by this sense of being out of place and time, a feeling that you are entering into a Twilight Zone-y space where things are a bit different. Hinoki and the Bird is such a place. But rather than feeling Hollywood or hacky, Hinoki and the Bird feels like you’re in an indie Rom Com that just got three nods from the academy and you’re one of the leads. It’s one of those places where the camera pans by picking up the giant green plant wall backdrop while a montage of two beautiful people stare into each other’s eyes and fall in love over a glass of red.

And can we talk about the wine? Hinoki and the Bird has an wonderful set of wines expertly curated by a sommelier who is for lack of a better descriptive on point. They provide dynamic pairings and insight into the food that will be highlighted by the choices they help you make. The food is an Asian Fusion with Greek, French and American influences. It does feel like California global cuisine done right all served tapas style with beautifully plated food. They have the California necessities of the now, the brussel sprout and the fried chicken sandwich (both of course elevated), but they also move off the beaten path with a lotus root chip that is divine dipped in a light green goddess-y dressing that sits super lightly on the tongue or the satsuma mandarin and black radish which is to use the overused, exquisite. For mains they have some wonderful flavors that you wouldn’t expect next to each other on the menu, like a lobster roll on a soft and warm black brioche bun that could stand side by side with any Cape Cod lobstah and come out even or maybe even (gasp) on top.

Traktir

I asked Russians for this one. With lots of gestures and the overtones of “whenever my uncle from Ukraine comes in from Chicago” (parse THAT out) I got enthusiasticallyu sent by way of Traktir in West Hollywood. I actually lived for two years on Norton avenue, right around the corner from here. But never came by. Thought it was a hole in the wall. Didn’t know it was an AWESOME hole in the wall.

They serve Russian cuisine. Attached to a Russian deli. Pastries and polish beer next to caviar and blinis. Stacked racks of jams sharing a shelf with wines made from pomegranate. The restaurant itself…. Deep reds and dark wood. Russian techno playing on tvs facing away from the large bar at the back matryoshka dolls worked into the decor while illuminated paintings of imperial Russia dot the interior landscape as well.

I ordered the chicken Tabaka and the kharcho (as per my YOU MUST ORDER THIS mandate from my Russian guides). Kharcho is a spicy lamb soup with a tomato base and rice. While the Tabaka (pron Ta-ba-KAA) is a spatchcock chicken pressed and grilled and the bones broken. This while seemingly weird to me, made for a perfect experience with the “Don’t eat with a fork, please” from the bright blue eyed waiter. Also, “Please dip in here." Indicating the ketchup which they make on site. Rough nutty breads started me off with salty Russian butter. Kharcho was mildly spicy with very tender lamb and almost a Mediterranean overtone paying homage to the soups origins in the Georgian region.

The Tabaka, grilled and flattened, with a gorgeous crispy skin with a Georgian homemade ketchup next to golden brown snap in your mouth soft in the middle crispy potatoes and cabbage Salad with cucumber and parsley heavily infused with dill and vinegar. Sour and sweet. An interesting overview of the cuisine.

As I savored my meal I looked around at the decor. The Imperial almost stained glass decor. The tchotchkes. The multiple huge tanks of infused vodka (they do it themselves) at the front. My mind slipping to the translation of vodka which means “water”. All in all a wonderful experience.

Jiang Nan Spring

Can we talk about a Michelin bib gourmand?

Went here for Matilda’s birthday. Something adjacent to a spinach and watercress. Very fast service. Michelin noteable. Green beans were amazing. Kung pao chicken. Xiao lung bao. Ribs. Wonderful service. Mango fish with tapioca for dessert. All in all was a glorious meal.

Jin Tea Shop

18 W Green St #2008, Pasadena, CA 91105

Matilda: Jin Tea shop is very chiq and looks very expensive but is affordable.

Matt: Says you. It was 20$ for a large and a med boba as well as a small snack of an organic egg puffle (Terrible name, sounds like a type of bird).

Matilda: The flavors are very light and the puff was airy. But I wish there was more boba in the drink.

Matt: Yeah. I agree. A little light on the boba, although I thought when they said 25% sugar they meant it. Some places when you put 25% sugar it still tastes like a sugar cereal. The flavors were nuanced. This is def a Chinese influenced boba shop. Lots of high end tea gear you can buy too.

Matilda: I wish there was more seating in the shop and the boba cups were clear so I could see the boba.

Matt: I actually think that was because they had a big push for sustainability. Recyclable materials everywhere, including the cups. But hard to find your last boba pearl. All in all a fun date!

Overall review:

Boba: 3.5/5

Snacks: 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5

PORTLAND, OR

DUCK HOUSE

Can we talk about MALA?

Mala is a very distinct flavor profile. In most the generic Chinese food that most americans have deemed takeout. Mala does not make an appearance. But she should. She is a Sichuan sassy bitch that will make you go “holy hell, what am I eating? And why can’t I feel my lips?” This is the hallmark of a Mala experience. The numbness y’a'll. The Numbness. And Duck House got it. Read on:

So my visit to Duck House came as a result of me working on a movie called ‘Significant Other’. I was up in the Portland area, staying right on the river. Lots of prosthetics, fun death scene, what’s not to love? So as one of my nightly forays on a day off in portland, I went out to Duck House in the University District of Downtown Portland. Low key joint, not fancy, felt a little reminiscent of the Chinese places that I used to frequent as a kid in NYC. High backed red chairs, round tables, a big bar that serves all sorts of alcohols against one wall. Now, for me, there is one dish that is the canary in the coal mine of Chinese restaurants. And that is Mapo Tofu. It’s a peasant dish, accessible on most Chinese menus and tells you really fast if the place is authentic or not. It tastes nothing like the mapo tofu of my youth. They get the tofu wrong, it’s overly oily, the meat is overly present and most of all, the heat is never right. Szechuan peppercorns as used as heat in mapo tofu and a few other dishes has a very distinct mouth feel. You might know the mouth feel of the spicy on the lips of a jalapeno, or the up the nose feel of a chinese mustard or wasabe variation. You might even know the ‘I am going to die’ throat feeling of a ghost pepper. Szechuan peppercorns and the chili variant used with them is nothing like this. If used right, this dish should give you an almost ‘hollow’ feeling to the mouth. There is a famous ‘numbness’ ascribed to it, although I usually think of it more like a menthol or cool/heat feeling to the mouth. It is very odd and almost addicting. See, most of the time I eat mapo tofu out of nostalgia. I eat things that are mapo adjacent. They have a taste that is similar, but way wrong. Sort of like eating the inside of a twinkie if you had a craving for a toasted marshmallow. Similar, but wrong and different.

Now, as per normal, I had this dish at Duck House. And also, as per normal, I had ordered waaaay too many dishes for my small frame. So I dug into the tofu. They got it right! The numb feeling, the tofu, tender and yet firm, the meat, perfectly cooked! I called my wife immediately. Not around. A good friend. Not responding. My mom. No. My dad. No. Here I was, having the best mapo tofu I had had in easily fifteen years and I had no one to share it with! Tragedy! Then the dishes started rolling in. Xiao Lung Bao! Jiao Tze! Green beans with thick slices of garlic on them! A shredded eggplant dish to die for! I’m salivating now as I write this, I miss it so much. All in all Duck House was a meal for the books. Sliding into me with a bit of perspective like I was Ego from the Pixar film Ratatouille. If you are in the Portland area, you must go.

HONORABLE MENTION -> And Probably worthy of their own write ups in the future: 

BCD Tofu House

Atch Kotch

Larchmont Village Wine and Spirits

Dai Chan

Midori

Gardens of Taxco

Wood & Vine

Oinkster

Night + Market Song

Pine and Crane

Din Tai Fung (Arcadia is Better)

Dai Ho Kitchen

The Factory Kitchen

Papa Frikken Kristos

Sidewalk Cafe

Alcove

Baco Mercat

Post & Beam 

Little Door

Bludso's BBQ

Drago Centro

Tsujita

Carousel

Boiling Shrimp

Pho 86 

Soot Bool Jeep

Dong Il Jang

The Waffle

Speranza

Mayura (Culver City)

AOC

Animal

Sweet Mo's (Try the chocolate cake)

Tamashii Ramen House

Silver Lake Ramen

 Vancouver, BC

TENEN

Can we talk about being hungry?

Headed to the set of Riverdale to do a costume fitting. Chatting it up with my driver. Bojan. Nicknamed Boky. Strange accent I notice. From where? Croatia. Hmm, fun! Not fun. Left because of war. Been in Vancouver for 30 years. Two kids, one on the way. Great guy. Grizzled. Face from a Hemingway novel. I do my thang. Get costumes put on me. Get tested for Covid. Things stuck up my nose. Paperwork. Boky and I head out again. We talk food. I love food. I’ve never had Croatian food. I ask where some good food is. Boky says Tenen. I say take me. So we go.

Little place. A few four tops, a bar. A man in a camouflage t-shirt and a guy in the corner with dark glasses that would fit in the movie Bridge of Spies. We sit. There’s a false brick wall with traditional items hung on it. Ottoman, Turkish seeming. Picture of Nicola Tesla. Croatian pop radio playing. Always funny to me when you can hear the American influence on other cultures. Them doing our overwrought radio announcers “Z100 NOOOOOOWW!” except in Croatian. I wonder if it has the same tacky appeal when hear in Croatian. Man begins to sing. He sound like Julio Iglesias in Croatian singing an Ed Sheeran song. Boky says we need coffee. We get coffee. It’s amazing. Thick and rich and chocolaty. Poured into small mugs from brass tipping pitchers. What do you call it? He says it’s called Turkish coffee in Croatian or Nashrah coffee. Which means ‘our coffee.’ I order the meze plate. I’ve seen a meze plate before in various other mediterranean cultures. I wonder about the similarities. Boky orders the rest for me. The Meze plate comes, along with bread. This is Ustipak.(oosteepak) Fresh made. Has the consistency and is probably made like a funnel cake. But has the taste of sourdough. There are cheeses on the plate. Four types. Two have a deep rich red pepper infusion. One is like a drier feta. One more like a Greek Pasticio. Pork and beef on the meze. Cut thin. Pickles. Olives. Deeply smoky. I tear some of the ustipak. Put the cheese on, put a little meat on top. Very rich, very dense, very delicious. I try other combinations. This could be a meal in and of itself. My Chavapi shows up. It’s incredibly large. I am not. This could feed a small Roman army. A large piece of freshly baked bread, almost like a pancake muffin, cut in half. 10 sausages sit inside still sizzling in their juices. Deeply umami aroma. Sometimes they are cooked with onions, but they’ve held off. Boky says they must assume I have meetings today. Deep rich tastes. Red pepper infusion in the sausage as well. There is more pickled veg and a lemony cole slaw to lighten the palate. Do I pick up the Chavapi? No, Boky says, ‘Just rip’. Most of this seems like a ‘Just rip’ kind of experience. I do. The bread is very light and fresh, but really almost has a pancake like texture with a popover like interior. But there’s no eggy taste. I wonder how they make it. I rip off some more Chavapi, put some of the cheese on with it. A pickle. I picture some Turkish soldier doing this 250 years ago. Almost like a burger shared across time. It’s quite delicious. You should go.

Pidgin
Exec chef: Wesley Young

Can we talk about a tasting menu?

Pretty nondescript entrance with a knife in a block combined with a buffalo. I don’t understand the significance. Sat at the bar, a long blonde wood structure amongst Vancouver’s pretty well to dos. The ceiling an industrial insulation while the decor is a melange of modern with a beaux arts twist. Got the tasting menu. Copper and opaque lighting with a hint of a modern aesthetic. The bar has multiple things on tap, all with strange claws as the handles for the spigots. A busy kitchen in the back creates Asian fusion dishes. Ah. I just understood the chimaera of images from around the place. Fusion. Like pidgin. I’m getting this place. The music vibe is like a cool club, a fusion again of late 90s house and deep but non-interfering electronica. 

Onward to the food:

Amuse bouche: Beautiful presentation. Daikon radish chips with a poke tuna mixture. tuna tartare, celery, ikura, nori puree, taro root crisp. Three kinds of pickles. A Japanese inspired potato with a Kim chi and a Japanese bitter daikon radish. Tuna salty and slightly spicy. The celery is very forward on the palate. But without that overwhelming feeling from celery. The salt maybe a tad too much. Feels like the roe that is in the dish might push the saltiness of the taro over the edge.  The crunch of the chip with the freshest of tuna is really nice however. 

2nd: maitake mushroom, dungeness crab mayonnaise. Extremely light. Just the right amount of crisp in the batter of the mushroom. Not much umami taste to the mushroom. Very citrusy. Mayo is nice and deeply crabby. Worth spooning over the mushroom as you eat it. 

3rd: asparagus. This is my favorite so far. Cheese is a smoky Brie. Almost like a bernaise. Peanuts sprinkled across it. Pulling from an almond so not that big a leap. But I’m here you can feel the Asian inspiration. The asparagus perfectly cooked. A flash in the pan literally as they fire it in the oven till it is bright green. Gorgeous. 

Main: smoked magret duck breast, morel, blue oyster, squash puree, pomme dauphine. The duck y’all… The duck! 5 spice powder is forward. But the duck is so light. Over two different types of mushrooms. Morels and blue oyster. Beautifully cooked. The squash wrapped up in a present of flavor. I had a black Manhattan as a pairing. Thinly sliced beets resting in the hoisin-y glaze with the five spice adding flavor but not overpowering. That’s hard. The duck smoky, but not abundantly so. Worth a caress through the sauce and a close with the cocktail. 

Final: . Not a fan of cake. Cake has a lot to earn in my opinion. Dog person. Cat person. Pie Person. Cake person. Even with this gorgeous fresh picked mint and the homemade ice cream, I’m not feeling redeemed here. A tad dry, not my favorite. Feel like something could be done to incorporate a cinnamon or Indian gulab jamun flavor. Good but prosaic. IMHO

Here’s where I hurt ya. And I LIKE IT.

Sichuan beignet. Miso caramel dip. Mala flavor. Really wonderfully unusual. HOLY SHIT THIS IS GOOD. Floral overtones of cardamom. Numbness on the lips. MALA! THE MA-frikken LA! The caramel sweetness is a great offset. Almost like a churro taste on the outside but with this deeply sweet savory/spicy interior. So good. This is the closer I’ve been looking for (cue Ben Kenobi).

They give me a midnight manhattan to close. I’m going to be dragging myself back to my hotel on my face. Good luck.

BAO BEI

Can we talk Asian Fusion?

Tin ceiling. Eclectic decor. Good drinks. 12 seat bar. Loungey back space with low seats. Wide clientele. If it wa Portland it would be hipster middle age and tech creatives. Attentive wait staff. Fusion menu. Hong Kong dumplings. Pea shoots in garlic. Feels like a hip Shanghai eatery. Black vinegar and soy dip. Steamed prawn, scallop and rockfish dumpling. Very light. Chive. Salty. Taken up by the La of chili oil. Pea tips in xiaoxing and garlic. So light. Full flavored. Gnocchi in kimchi butter crispy squash. Real sense of the pickling spices. Mid tongue heat. Charred rapini. Lamb not gamey. Sher ping pancake sort of done like a burger. Red pickled onion. Jalapeño. Or chili. Cilantro. Serrano chilis. Deeply satisfying.

The Birds and the Beets

Spicy peppery egg over spicy organic arugula and avocado with a pickled onion and spicy Mayo. Gluten free apple muffin and absolutely delicious coffee.

Paso Robles, CA

In Bloom

Nooky little space in new construction building a little ways away from downtown. Indoor decor modern clean line eclectic chic with a neon flower on the wall and a beautifully appointed bar with all the wines you would expect in gorgeous Paso Robles. Outdoor patio with a nice warm night after a day of wine tasting at notable Paso landmarks like Justin, peachy canyon and eberle wineries. Huge wine selection. Summer salad with buttermilk tarragon dressing and pickled fennel and crispy fennel seeds. Peaches with matcha yogurt, seed crackers and bee pollen. Peaches grilled to perfection but not slimy. Focaccia freshly made by the restaurant with a crispy top and warm center. Accompanied by a pork pate that was a little umami intense for my palate. It is balanced by a mango honey but again, not for my palette. Instead we got the heirloom Cherry tomatoes with a green mole which was akin to a pesto. This was a spectacular accomplishment to the focaccia and we wiped the bowl with it. Rainbow trout. Crispy skin. Meat tender and flaky with a blackberry beurré blanc and Blanche tomatoes and cucumbers. I feel like the cucumbers didn’t work in counterpoint taking away from what was otherwise was a spectacular piece of fish. Strawberry almond cake. Fresh picked strawberries, pickled strawberries. Slightly dry cake made moist by the strawberry infusion. Fresh whipped cream more like a clotted crème. Yum!

SWEET

Jenis Homemade Ice Cream

Salt and Straw

The Pie at the TRAILS CAFE - The only pie in LA to rival my wifes. All other are simply comers.

MEET

Parable Coffee Shop (in the Bel Air Church)