Lofaso's Creation

Donned in slacks and button downs, Matt and I headed over to Black Market Liquor Bar. Antonia Lofaso, a Top Chef contestant, just opened her own place that's all about sharing small plates. Our last visit to a restaurant with small plates, Pica, set the bar high, but Black Market sure stepped up.

Right on Ventura, it's a convenient spot, but you might pass it if you didn't know that it's there. It's quite dark inside; candles give off a soft glow perched on the brick ceiling... this is definitely a gastropub. We're overdressed, but who can tell? The waitress guides us through the menu with print that is much too small, especially considering the lighting situation. The menu is comprehensive and deep, consisting of dishes from different parts of the world with differing flavors.

First comes the crispy collard greens with a soft egg on top; the runny yolk and pr

osciutto combine for a salty richness. Next came the charcuterie platter, which was excellently sourced. The meats were of high quality, and the pickled in-house veggies were a well-regarded touch.

I must interject and digress about possibly the most eccentric yet pleasing aspect of the whole place: the soda. They have dozens of different types and brands. No Coke or Sprite is found here; instead, they have sodas like Mr Q.Cumber, or Blueberry. A wide variety of beer may be necessary at a pub, but who says soda can't be cool?

Alright, back on topic. One of the best dishes of the night was the softshell crab po-boy. Fried to golden perfection with a cool asian slaw, I could've ordered two more. Peel-and-eat shrimp were seasoned heavily with salt and pepper with a lemony tang to them. Crunchy and messy, always a good sign.

Better than any of the food itself was talking to Lofaso herself after the kitchen calmed down a bit later into the night. We talked of her previous work at Spago, the restaurant she gives credit to teaching her everything she knows about cooking. She seems very pleased with the praise and press she's getting. Her food was all around fantastic and she doesn't need me to tell her that, nor do you. Check it out for yourself by making an online reservation; you'll love the delicate food and classy ambiance.

Lowkey BBQ

NPR sends out a featured restaurant every week via text message. Smoke City Market in Van Nuys was that restaurant a few weeks ago. It was also a coincidence we were car shopping, so Smoke City was right in the center of all the dealerships on Van Nuys. It's a small place, and I wouldn't have found it if it weren't for NPR (and Google Maps on my iPhone).

You walk in, and it seems like a place you'd find in the South. A quiet, dimly lit room, long bench-tables with beer buckets on top holding supplies, and people munching over wax paper brings an mysterious, yet enticing sensation. There seem to be only two people working as it's not crowded today. A pretty cashier and a big husky guy behind her at the carving station. Yes, they cut the meat to order by hand: impressive. You look over the menu high above the counter, and you don't know what "Texas Caviar" is. But not to worry, she explains what it is, and of course, you get it. It's black eyed peas with diced roasted peppers and herbs in a sharp, vinegar-y dressing. Get the Pastrami, just do it, and he'll start to slice your meat right as the words come out of your mouth.

Interestingly, they serve the meat plain with just some slices of white bread. They tell you to eat with your hands and add only their homemade barbecue sauce if you want something else on the meat. Of course you can have their slides, but don't go making a fancy sandwich with the meats. Savor the quality by eating it plain.

I'll definitely return to enjoy the cool serenity of, if you think about it, a pretty minimalist establishment. However, I can tell you now that I'll be back before my 4 year lease is up.

Fresh Out da Sea

You would not expect to find some of the freshest and most traditional sushi in a Studio City strip mall.  Well Chef Nozawa or "The Sushi Nazi" as he's known, serves traditional Japanese classics at his restaurant Sushi Nozawa.  You receive no menu, you must ask for one.  If you opt out of the menu, (which you should) you get the Nozawa's special: "Trust Me".   Nozawa prides himself on providing the freshest fish possible by going to the Fish Market every day in the very early morning.  Whatever looks best to him that particular day ends up on your plate that night.

Signs all over the restaurant simply say "Trust Me" and so that is what we did.  The first course was a raw tuna salad in a light vinaigrette.  Also worth noting is the house made wasabi and ginger.  The second course came swiftly following the first, as Nozawa watched vigilantly to see when we finished our previous course.  Next came slices of Yellowtail and Toro over hot sticky rice.  What's also different about this place is that the rice is always served hot.  If your chopstick skills aren't up to par, your hands will suffice.

Ginger and Wasabi

Yellowtail and Toro Sashimi

Raw Tuna Salad

Only midway through, 2 Crab Handrolls and 4 pieces of Albacore sashimi arrived.  The crab was  not overpowered by the sauce.  That's a trend Nozawa sticks to; he serves his fish raw with little to detract from the fish itself.  He wants the quality of the fish to shine through.  Yet another course, 2 Toro Handrolls and 4 Halibut sashimi were delivered by the only waiter at the restaurant.  Delicious as always.  After we cleared our plates, our server asked us if we wanted another course; Matt was ready to quit, but Ethan pushed him into one more course.  Probably the best sashimi of the night came here.  We were graced with Black Cod sashimi and Scallop Handcone.  We weren't hungry enough to fully enjoy the rich Scallop Handcone after 4 full courses, but the Black Cod was simply awesome.

Toro Handrolls and Halibut Sashimi

Scallop Handcones and Black Cod Sashimi

It's up to you how much to order, but beware of the price.  You won't know how much it is until your bill comes at the end, and "trust us" it's expensive.  However, like we said in our last post, it's worth it.  Quality comes at a price and you're sure paying premium here.  There are no fancy flavors or colorful plates here, just extremely traditional sushi served the way it's meant to be.

The Lonely Trucks

We were looking around twitter trying to find a good food truck to eat at, and we saw that 4 trucks were going to be at the same location in Culver City.  We made sure to leave enough time even if there was traffic and the food trucks were packed.  We had experienced 1.5 hours with Nom Nom and Grill 'em All trucks in the past.  Well, there was no traffic and there was close to no one at the food trucks.  By that we mean there were maybe 10 people at most eating from the 4 different trucks when we first got to the large parking lot for Centinela Feed and Akiba Temple #badbusiness.

Nom Nom, The Munchie Machine, José O'Malley's, and Crepe'n Around.  We started with bahn mi from Nom Nom.  The pork and lemongrass chicken bahn mi were both good as always.  We didn't eat at Crepe'n Around or The Munchie Machine, although The Munchie Machine had a creative hangover/dank menu.  Trying to find out the attempted play on words of the truck's name Matt's sister asked the guy at Crepe'n Around "What's the pun?"  The befuddled Mr. Crepe answered her question with another question: "Are crepes fun!?"  Realizing he clearly couldn't formulate a simple answer to a seemingly simple question, she walked away laughing.

We wanted to try food from another truck, so we decided on chili and a beef quesadilla from the gringo truck (José O'Malley's).  Don't be thrown off by the overly tacky light up signs and flags that top the truck; the food is enjoyable.  It's nothing special or creative, but it tastes good.

Even though there was not much energy, we always like a food truck adventure.

Picca(chu) Peruvian

It's a Wednesday night and we call Picca to see if we can get a reservation.  But damn, no tables 'til 9:45.  However, word on the street is that the bar is usually open a cool place to dine.  So, we made our way to Picca for some small plates of Peruvian cuisine.  When we arrived, there was even a 20 minute wait for the bar.  This place was straight poppin' on a hump day.  To pass the time, we J-walked to Ralphs to browse and get the nice deal of 2 for 1 Hi-Chew.

By the time we checked back in at Picca, there were two seats available at the bar.  There were two bars at the restaurant: the one we sat at offers a close-up view of the kitchen.  We grazed over the menu and picked 6 dishes from the various categories ranging from ceviches to main plates like paella.  Ethan asked the waiter if 6 dishes would be enough, but he suggested that 8-10 would be just right.  We were sure to order a variety of different flavors and proteins.

The first dish to come out was lightly fried chicken with a tomato salsa and a pepper sauce; decent but wouldn't order again.  The first misstep of the night occurred here: it was the service.  At a tapas restaurant like this, timing is crucial to a diner's experience.  With many dishes, they must flow out in a regimented fashion with equal time in between each one.  Our chicken came out then we waited far too long only to have 3 dishes come out at once.  Those 3 were the ceviche criollo, papa rellena, and tuna tartare.  The ceviche was fresh and spicy seabass with a crazy duo of corn.  One way was corn kernels that had been roasted and the other was choclo... whatever that is.  The papa was perfectly filled with boiled egg and braised beef, much more memorable than the average tuna tartare.

Ceviche

Fried Chicken

Papa Rellena

After an appropriate wait time between dishes, we got the beef filet skewers and a quail egg-potato skewers.  The beef was good not great, although the sea urchin butter was classy, but the quail egg skewer was different and delicious.  Next came the star of the night: the seafood paella.  The rice was flavorful and the seafood was abundant and delectable.   The second but more easily corrected error was the waiter forgetting that we ordered mussels after he so strongly recommended for them.  We had to wait until they finally made them, but they were worth the wait.  Possibly too salty/garlicky, the broth was smooth and redolent.
The dessert options seemed unoriginal, so we returned to Ralphs to grab some Cincinnati native Graeter's Ice Cream.

Paella!

Skewers

Mussels

Straight from Cincinnati: Graeters!

The winners overall here are the adventurous dishes.  Don't settle for dishes you can get anywhere like beef filet or tuna tartare.  This place is serving up some unique peruvian food with an upscale twist.  With the need to order plentifully, we ended up spending close to $45 a person after tax and tip and still could've eaten more.