Memorial Day in Los Angeles - A New Restaurant Discovery

Today my friend John and I took a leisurely holiday lunch. As I have been staying in Silverlake, I suggested we drive up Sunset Blvd. to see if any of its numerous restaurants might pique our interest. In a funky unassuming mini-mall on the north side of Sunset Blvd in Silverlake, close to Echo Park was a delectable surprise.

Chibcha - a restaurant serving Colombian cuisine is not only fresh and delicious, it is also organic (the Pork and seafood are not organic)

We started (as one always starts a Colombian meal) with empanadas and an arepa con queso. They were crispy, fresh and hot. I got the impression this restaurant has a good turn over because of large take out and catering orders. If you want your arepas at home, they will make fresh ones, cold, packed and ready to take with you. And of course they’ll tell you how to prepare them.

There are vegetarian (probably not vegan) options available with no muss or fuss.

The coffee is strong and you can order it with almojábanas - hot chewy bread made of corn flour and cheese.

The entrees start at $9.95 and come with rice, arepa, yuca, and salad.

A Jewel in North Hollywood - Skaf’s

Without question my favorite restaurant in the Los Angeles area is Skaf’s Lebanese Grill in North Hollywood. I found it for myself (being Lebanese American I felt it my duty to try it, as I was regularly in the area). It isn’t in a fashionable location - tucked in a corner spot in a mini-mall next to a 7-11 at the corner of Oxnard and Laurel Canyon. I didn’t know what to expect! All the plates come with hummus and cabbage salad–one bite of the hummus and I knew I had found a jewel of a restaurant: I hadn’t had Lebanese cooking like this since the big family gatherings I attended in my youth.

And how rare is it these days to find an affordable eatery where the food is fresh and savory? Extremely rare! Every dish at Skaf’s has flavor and character - like home cooking. It is a family owned establishment, and as soon as you walk in, you feel like family, too. Whenever I am in town, I go to Skaf’s almost every day. It is that good.

You can eat very cheaply if you are on a budget–they always have affordable daily specials, and the entire menu is quite reasonable. A healthful and delightful variation to the plates: you can ask for more cabbage salad in place of the rice.  It might be a lot of cabbage, but it’s tasty, and for people who can’t eat a so much rice, potatoes, and the like, this is priceless.  One of my favorite dishes is the baked kibbeh in yogurt sauce. (Not for the wheat/gluten intolerant) But really, it is always so hard for me to choose what to eat! It is all yummy - from the lentil soup to the cucumber salad, to the lamb chops to the falafel.

(pictures from www.yelp.com and http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com)
More blogs and other reviews you might want to check out.
http://dailygluttony.blogspot.com http://www.chow.com/digest/3936
http://randyclemens.com
http://www.yelp.com

6008 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood 91606
At Oxnard St
Tel: 818-985-5701
Hours:
Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

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Espresso, per favore

If you are a fanatic for a good espresso , but you do not live in Italy, you probably struggle to get what you desire.

In the Los Angeles area there are but a few places to get a proper espresso on a consistent basis. The Conservatory on Washington Blvd in Culver City is one such place. Here you can depend on a proper creme de cafe along with a good flavor. The foam on your cappuccino is light but still liquid, like the frothy creamy dreamy stuff it should be. Near the Miracle Mile area on San Vicente and Hauser is an Italian run cafe, Pasquale Cafe, that serves proper stuff. Nice people, too. Intelligentsia Cafe in Silverlake offers impeccable technique and flavor as well. If there is a line down the block outside Intelligentsia, and you do not wish to wait, you can always pop down the street to see if Bekkett is working at Pazzo Gelato on the corner of Hyperion and Sunset. I asked him how he came to have such good espresso making technique. He had lived, he said, above a cafe for a time. Pazzo Gelato is made from organic milk and mostly from produce that is in season where applicable. Can’t say that I mind visiting! This is delicious stuff made by some foodies who wanted to share the joy of great taste.

I found this article which had great comprehensive information about the components of a well made espresso, including great detail about the importance of the grind. Towards the end of the article there are some Illy coffee products discussed which I am a little dubious about, but I found the technical info to be sound.
www.allbusiness.com/manufacturing/food-manufacturing-food-coffee-tea/124607-1.html

In writing about food and health, I don’t want to make it all about super conservative practices. I do support moderation and quality. I suggest that coffee addiction will not support optimal health, that coffee is acidic. However when it is a well done work of coffee art, the occasional delectation may serve another purpose. I think it is hard to know what works and why. If you find what makes you feel good and avoid illness, that is what to go for. I make suggestions based on my experience and my perception of reason. That is all any of us can do. I can’t say there is a right path, a right answer. If you find suggestions here that make sense to you and make you feel better, go with it.

My point: I suggest that if you are going to imbibe, choose quality over quantity.