Review coming soon.
Wed 04.16.08 - Gluten free, diary free, and egg free pancakes are a bit funky to start with, this mornings batch is comical. Experiment gone awry.
Photos by Ms. Jen with her Nokia N95 camera phone.
I am a big fan of the Thai Kitchen Spring Onion Rice Noodle Soup Bowl. Gluten-free, check. Dairy-free, check. Egg-free, check. Canola oil free, check. Takes only 3-4 minutes to make... Sign me up!
After I first found this little gem of Jenifer friendly food goodness at Trader Joe's a few years back, I would just make it by the package directions. But ever since I have returned from Ireland, I have made it a meal by adding whatever complimentary veggies and meats that I have in the refrigerator and/or chicken broth if I have it on had.
Happy Spiced Up Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Soup Bowl:
1 package of your fave flavor of Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Soup Bowls (or any other instant noodle package, but I won't vouch for quality & gluten-free with other brands)
1/2 bowl (the plastic bowl that comes with the Rice Noodle Soup) of water
1 bowl (see directly above) of Chicken broth or veggie broth
All the packets of stuff that come in the Thai Noodle packaging.
Put all of the above in a pan on the stove that will fit plus room or find a big bowl and do it in the microwave. If stove, boil for 5 minutes. If microwave, nuke for 3 minutes.
As the soup is cooking, chop up whatever tasty vegetables and/or meat you have in the refrigerator that would be complimentary.
I like to use leafy green veggies: Bok Choy, escarole, spinach, kale, etc.
I also like to use pork (bacon or pancetta, pre-sauted/cooked), turkey or chicken leftovers, or cooked ground beef for extra protein.
Add the veggies and cooked meat to the soup, cook until boiling or the veggies are wilt-ish/ cooked to your taste.
Serve. Eat. Be happy.
many years ago, feeling somewhat homesick for my childhood home in Okinawa, Japan, i was moaning about my need for cheap & cheerful Japanese eats. a friend who lived in Palms had an idea. "i know!" he said. "you have to go to this little Japanese greasy spoon/coffee shop in an alley! you can get something with rice & i'll have a cheeseburger."
i was, understandably, dubious. but hah! little did i know...
i fell in love that morning, deeply and completely. where else can you get yakisoba and fries? gyoza and a thick chocolate shake? a tuna melt and sunomono? the little obasan waitresses were friendly and efficient, and the food was simple & surprisingly ultra-delicious. i soon was taking other friends to Tokyo 7-7 myself.
nowadays, i live within walking distance, and the obasans don't even bring me, or my husband (who over the course of many breakfasts at Tokyo 7-7 went from boyfriend to fiance to husband) a menu anymore -- they just greet us with a cheerful "Ohayo!" (good morning) and give me my delicious cha-shu royal and green tea, and bring my honey his $2.35 breakfast special #1 with a root beer float.
once you find this little neighbourhood gem (park in the Cardiff structure & walk out into the alley, not to the street), you too can quickly become a regular and decide if you like the club sandwich or the udon noodles better. or heck, have 'em both!
3839-B Main St. Culver City, CA 90230 or call (310) 204-5728 for more information. hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. parking in said Cardiff structure is first 2 hours free. cash only!
Fraîche, since it's opened, has been one of those potential adventures. so it was with great anticipation that i made plans with Ms. Jen to finally try this restaurant that has been getting swooned over by critics and regular eaters alike...and then found myself making plans to go again a week later with 2 girlfriends who both wanted to go there. i figured this was a good thing: more menu sampling would be possible.
so, the nutshell reviews: Trip Number One. Ms. Jen & i had reservations, and were seated immediately. tables are close enough so that you can easily eavesdrop on the ones beside you if your own dinner date isn't that interesting. had a decent red wine and an order of the lamb spezzatino. Ms. Jen enjoyed the steak & frites. the food was...good. it wasn't anything super spectacular, and i failed to taste anything other than yummy lamb stew. that's fine, but for all the hype & the prices, i was hoping for a surprise tingle of the tongue; something to distinguish this dish from one i might make myself at home, or an unexpected or especially memorable flavour to emerge. Ms. Jen's steak had the same quality: completely good and delicious but nothing memorable.
now, i am not a foodie. i am not a gastroperson. i am a small girl of modest means who loves to eat and does so with great energy and pleasure. i associate good food with good company and love it when i get a food buzz -- when a meal just blossoms with flavour intensity or quality so that the next day you remember it and have a Pavlovian response. while Fraîche was a lovely restaurant, it did not provide that buzz. and due to the modest means of which i mentioned, when those sorts of prices are charged and that sort of difficulty in getting a reservation is involved -- my expectations will indeed rise.
Ms. Jen wisely pointed out that i would have another chance in a week to see if our *eh* reaction was a fluke, or would be repeated. i admit i really, really, really hoped it was a fluke. after all, i can walk to Fraîche.
so Trip Number Two. two nights ago, as you may recall, was a downpour. we had no reservations and were hoping that between the very Not Angeleno Friendly Rain and the weeknight, we'd be able to get a table. upon arrival we were told that yes, we could get a table in about 15-20 minutes. let's just say that about 70 minutes later, we were seated, and that after an ordeal ordering a glass of wine from very snotty bar staff. ah well, the price of eating at an "it" restaurant in L.A., we think. this time around i had the monkfish, which came in a delicious sauce with spinach. i also tried the roasted corn soup that one of my friends ordered. and while i did enjoy the meal, i again had the total *eh* reaction: there wasn't a whole lot of interest or subtlety to the foods i ate. maybe it was the rain, maybe it was being tired, but honestly -- i felt rather depressed going home. it was as if i'd finally gotten to meet a good friend's new wonderful/smart/funny boyfriend that she's so excited about, and all he did was drink cheap beer, tell poopookakafart jokes, and not know who Vladimir Putin is. does this make him a bad person? no. but not very sparkly or special.
so does the *eh* factor make Fraîche a bad restaurant? not by a long shot. but not very sparkly or special.
Fraîche is the new over-hyped, over-buzzed and over-priced for what one gets restaurant in Culver City. The food, wine, and service is good, but at the prices that Fraîche is charging, the food and wine should be more than just good. Fraîche bills itself and the reviews bill it as a fine-dining wine bar, it is neither.
Fraîche's food is decent heavy-protein-starch-very-little-vegetables comfort food and the wines by the glass are wildly overpriced for the bad selection of whiles (of the 5 whites, only the Babcock Chardonnay was decent) and an ok selection of 5 reds. For a place that is being reviewed as Culver City's best new fine dining and wine bar, it is not as the selection of wine's by the glass is poor, but barely decent or adequate for a restaurant of its stature. Do they think Los Angeles is London, to over-charge for bad to decent wine by the glass?
To earn the name, a wine bar should have at least 10 wines of white and red available by the glass and 5 of each should surprise you. The joy of a wine bar is not in buying a bottle of wine, but trying at least 2 different glasses of wine that you would not otherwise buy or try. A.O.C. delivers on this score, with over 15-20 wines each by the glass in red and white varieties, of which at least half can't be found out and about.
As for the food, it was good but not great nor delightful. I was hoping that Monday night was owner-chef, Jason Travi's night off and that the food's heaviness with no counterpoints were a result of an inexperienced kitchen staff reproducing his recipes. No such luck on Monday, as both Mr. Travi and his wife, Miho were in the open kitchen.
Did Fraîche know when the LA Times' critics were in the restaurant and they received extra attention? Or do we give credit the to the heavy starters and main dishes on Monday and on Tuesday, when hadashi encountered much the same with work colleagues, to a winter menu? I think not. Rather than buzz, Ford's Filling Station, Culver City's 'gastropub' which is a block or two down from Fraîche, serves delightful comfort food at the same price range.
A.O.C. is a full orchestra. Ford's Filling Station is a good three chord rock song with fast and slow bits as well as tart counterpoints. Fraîche is a single middle C note held for many measures.
If you find yourself in Culver City in need of a delightful meal and glass of wine, ignore the Fraîche's buzz, and walk down the street to Ford's for a meal that is worth the price.
Since, I <3 the pig, this is good.
1) A few new food blogs that I have run across this week or two:
Just Bento | meal in a box
Chocolate & Zucchini : Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen
lobstersquad : A Food Blog with Drawings
The Sensitive Baker Blog
CeliacChicks
2) The LA Times food section is recommending Osteria Mozza this week in its restaurant review, particularly the mozzarella bar. It sounds very intriguing.
3) Regardless what cranky commenters at Yelp may say, What's Wharf continues its reign as my favorite local restaurant and one of my top 10 of all time. I have always liked that Walt's serves good seafood and has a wait staff that is willing to help you find something on the menu that will work with one's food allergies. I first found Walt's while still in high school on the recommendation of my allergy doctor who said that they are one of the best restaurants in SoCal for catering to folks with food allergies.
Sometime this spring, Walt's brought on a new executive chef, Christopher Krajacic, who has been revitalizing the menu and rotating in new dishes, as well as adding a Chef's Tasting Menu, all the while keeping old favorites on the menu. Last week when I took my sister Allison to her "Last (gluten-full) Meal" at Walt's, I had a chance to talk to the Christopher the Chef about his additions to the menu and thank him for keeping the menu friendly for folks who multiple food allergies. He told me that in a previous job he was a caterer for the San Diego Celiac's Society.
