I love food. And I love going out to eat and trying new places. And I
love talking about food. In fact, I love food so much that whenever I'm
eating I actually try not to get too full so that I'll be able to eat
again in another two hours—which is something I think I inherited from
my mother. When I was a kid, I thought it took five hours to get to
Santa Barbara from LA because she would take the Pacific Coast Highway and stop to eat
three times. (If you are not familiar with the geography of Southern
California, it shouldn’t take more than an hour and a half to get to
Santa Barbara).
But despite that fact that I grew up in a household where it was the norm to discuss what we were going to eat for lunch during breakfast (even if breakfast was at 12pm), I am not a foodie. I hate restaurants that pile food into thimble sized pyramids in the middle of oversized square plates. And when things like soup are served in shot glasses (unless you're Hatfield's and then you can do whatever you want). But the other night when my lovely boyfriend realized that not only did he not owe extra taxes, but he was getting a hefty refund, I wanted him to take me somewhere nice to make up for all those nights of sopitos at Poquito Mas while he anticipated paying what he thought was going to be a huge bill from the government. It turns out my step-dad is not the only man in my life who can’t do his own accounting. No offense, Alan.
As a devoteé of all things wine, I am on the constant lookout for
events that allow me to expand my palate without hurting my pocketbook.
It's rare to find me at large "Grand Tastings" because I find it
difficult even with pouring/spitting to get my $50-$100 worth and still
be able to function or remember what I drank. Living in Los Angeles,
"bang for the buck" wine-centered evenings are few and far between so
when I heard about the Tavern's bi-weekly Wine and Cheese Club, I made a
reservation immediately. The Larder, where the tasting takes place, is
the casual cafe attached to Tavern, which is Suzanne Goin's latest
restaurant venture. Even though I've never been to her reknowned wine
bar A.O.C. – it's horrifying I know, I'll get there, I promise – I knew
this was going to be good. It's what she does. Plus, four wines paired
with cheese and nibbles for $29? There's nothing wrong with that
equation. Except the drive, which thankfully for us was against traffic.
Last night, we had an eating contest at the newest sugarFISH location downtown. Obviously, Maia won, but her dress was a lot stretchier than Anna's. We each ordered "The Nozawa" (the largest of Nozawa's signature "Trust Me" menus), but we couldn't resist adding an order of the perfectly buttery albacore belly sushi and a few other things. The large scallops (which were the daily special) had just the right amount of tang and practically leave sparkles in your mouth. The crisp seaweed was the perfect complement to the fatty, melt-in-your mouth fish in the toro handroll. The halibut was pure heaven, and the way they prepare salmon is so genius that they should practically call it something else entirely. The ikura was a little soft and not quite cold enough to balance the warm rice, and we were a little too full by the time the lobster handroll came around to properly assess it, but we think we liked it.
Having almost given up on the Italian cucina here in Los Angeles, I was very pleased to enjoy the offerings of this ristorante. It was a whim that brought me there and also an offer from Blackboard Eats. After all Pane e Vino has been around for the past 20 years, no small accomplishment in a metropolis of shifting loyalties and chefs’ inabilities to produce and present authentic cuisine. Not their fault really, for if a restaurant wants to stay in business in this city, then they have to cater to many of their patrons uneducated knowledge of what real Italian food is all about and offer Americanized versions.
Mario Battali’s newest haunt in L.A.