Earlier in the year, this was published on Eater:

“Fujin’s chef partner Elmer Komagata opened LA modern French restaurants Chabuya in 1987, and Truffles in 1989. He recently returned to LA after successfully operating a ramen restaurant in Cancun for eight years during a 14 year Mexico stint. Prior to opening Fujin in West Covina, the chef consulted on Yamada-ya’s menu and imported premium regional sake.

The Tokyo-born chef previously worked at Paris’ Trois Marches and Le Petit Bedon, both two Michelin star recipients. At Fujin, Komagata applies 30 years of stock making experience to two distinct types of broth: tonkotsu “milky white” and shang tang “crystal clear.” Each bowl of tonkotsu ramen contains the essence of a pound of bones which yields ramen soup so thick it jiggles like Jell-O. The chasu found in the ramen? Steamed, sliced, then bruleed before serving. Corn for the miso butter corn ramen is served on the cob, with a knife, after grilling; the hanjuku tamago, found in both ramen and bowls of pork belly rice over rice, is a “matter of pride” for the chef. Playfulness is even extended to the anime dragon painted on the wall (being ridden by a baby, as inspired by Son Goku).

Three different types of noodles (custom percentage of water, flour type, and cutting blades) are made for Fujin Ramen. The noodles are then paired to three distinct types of ramen: Hokkaido, Nagasaki,and Taiwanese. Yes, here one can find Taiwan’s most famous bowl of noodle soup as interpreted by a French trained Japanese chef.”

Still, none of that says much about the ramen. The tonkotsu is a 6-bone mix (including chicken feet! Yummers!), simmered for 8 hours. Noodles are sourced from Myojyo, just like the other SGV fave, Foo Foo Tei.

The tonkotsu broth is opaque. Frosted, if you will. The chicken stock based “crystal clear broth” shangtang (menu description / transcription, not mine) is available after 5:30pm, and is offered in “Raijin, Shang-Tang, Ma-Bo, and Niu-Lo-Men” forms.

»continue reading Fujin Ramen — Whenever En Route to San Manuel

Forewarning: yes, this is crafty corporate concept pizza. It’s not as glaring of an oxymoron when the corporation in question is Lettuce Entertain You, aka, LEYE. In addition to operating such monstrosities as Big Bowl, and Ben Pao — ex-Chicagoans currently trying to “Escape from LA” can cringe… now — LEYE also operates Everest and L2O. Everest was just listed as the 10th most expensive restaurant in the US, and L2O received 3 whopping Michelins this year. Between Everest and L2O, LEYE claims four stars. What does this have to do with Sella Rossa? LEYE owns Stella Rossa, Stella’s Executive Chef Jeff Mahin and sous Patrick Costa are both from L2O.

While there are 2 Ex-Chicagoans helming this “pizza bar”, do not expect Chicago pie shenanigans. I despise deep dish, I hate almost everything from Gino’s East/Lou Malnati’s and Pizzeria Uno/Dos/Tres/etc. After chatting with chef Mahin, it is clear he wants the pies to transcend categories, to serve a higher purpose, if you well. If Alice Waters moved to SoCal and had to make pizza, without her favorite wood burning oven, Stella Rossa’s deck oven baked pie might be something she’d produce. SM’s pie skips the Caputo 00 but uses sea salt, filtered water, live yeast, and Santa Monica farmers market sourced ingredients, natch. The result, born from months of scientific — Chef Mahin has a math degree from Cal — dough and yeast testing, is unnervingly good.

Serious Eats did a nice blurb in July (shortly after my visit) and aptly covers the most important points of Stella Rossa. What it didn’t do, was provide insight into Chef Mahin’s philosophy. This is a corporate chef who left his post to sling pie in a far away land. His sous chef, wearing a 3 Michelin star tattoo on his left bicep, migrated to LA also to sling pie. When asked how he dealt with transition, Mahin stated plainly: cooking is cooking. »continue reading Stella Rossa, Santa Monica: Michelin Powered Pizza

Some of us are really excited for the Eat Real event, so excited we might even brave the 405 closure debacle & cross from East to West side. Heck, some of us who think free labor is like running in public — the horror — might even volunteer.

Here’s the official blurb, interspaced with photos from the “Preview Event”, followed by further thoughts on the festivities inspired by the Eat Real Fest Oakland:

The Eat Real Festival, the urban food extravaganza that showcases food in all its tasty forms, has just announced highlights of the lineup for the jam-packed Los Angeles event taking place at the Helms Bakery District in Culver City, CA on July 16th and 17th, 2011. Offering an extraordinary opportunity for people to celebrate not only the very best of their regional foods, but also the people who grow it and make it. Attendees will get up close and personal with their food through two days of non-stop food skills and hands on DIY demos including a “flying knives” butchery contest, an eclectic array of local food producers in the marketplace and a curated selection of delicious street eats incorporating local and sustainable ingredients all priced at $5 or less. “Eat Real takes the idea of and old-time state fair and turns it on its head,” said Anya Fernald, founder of Eat Real Festival. “For two full days, attendees can dine and sip on delicious items that highlight local, healthy and sustainable ingredients. But eating and drinking is only part of the fun. We’ll also put people in touch with their food by showing how it’s made – from making jam, sauerkraut or bread, raising backyard chickens and bees, to seeing the artistry involved in butchering a steer or pig. We celebrate the very best southern California has to offer and will activate thousands of people to demand good food, all the time.”

There is no cost for entry into the Eat Real Festival. In fact, there is no cost for any of the festival activities that includes music, workshops, demonstrations and events like the canning and butchery contests. The only cost when attending the Eat Real Festival will come from shopping in the marketplace or purchasing food from the food vendors on site. By agreeing to take part in Eat Real, vendors commit to using 1-2 local or sustainable ingredients in their food, hormone free meat and ensure that all prepared food for sale on site will be priced $5 or less. There is also space devoted to local food craft folks (cheese, charcuterie, pickles, jams, and more) and urban homesteading where attendees can learn what it takes to get in touch with your inner backyard farmer.

»continue reading Eat Real Fest LA: For The Anti-Cool July 16 – 17

BoHo v1 had a rather tumultuous ride as Arclight’s neighbor for a year and a half. First, a GM, or 2, was fired. Then the starting free spirited chef left because he couldn’t do whatever it is that he wanted to do. Through it all, BoHo carried on with its gastropubby fare which almost everyone seemed to have enjoyed, to a certain degree. No matter the food, no matter the chef swappage, everyone could always count on BoHo’s 2 dozen rotating craft beers, one of the first (of the second wave in LA) to have such a well-curated list.

No one quite believed BoHo would re-open after the planned October 2010 closure, but it managed to stay remain open, with its bottomless mimosa weekend brunches and all, all the way til Feb of 2011. With an obvious will to survive, it was no surprise BoHo returned to biz at its new digs only after a month of closure.

Except the new location is… wait for it… Hollywood & Highland! Commence collective groan… now. That’s right, BoHo went from being one movie theater’s neighbor to another, except the new one’s in an Egyptian themed mall in the middle of Hollywood. Go ahead, groan again, BoHo’s restauranteur Adolfo Surya doesn’t mind. He brought on a new chef, kept the same excellent beer menu, and hopes tourists (as well as local yokels) will appreciate affordable small batch brewed beer in a cozy environ.

Wesley Pumphrey, the new chef, has worked at Craft and Bazaar, 2 perennial LA faves. Here at BoHo, he’s using Wolfgang Puck designed/built wood-fired pizza to toss out some fantastic pizza/flatbreads. While the menu isn’t exactly the same as OG BoHo, the essence of its fare remains. The fantastic onion soup has disappeared, but a Hawaiian-esque tuna tartare, fully evocative of poke, has subbed in nicely. Moules frites here is solid as well, and offered with both grilled toast along with frites, making the broth all the more dunkable (not a word). Out of the pizzas, there is no doubt the Spaniard, with the sweet roasted piquillo peppers and sweet onion marmalade countering the properly salty manchego and chorizo, will be amongst the greatest hits here. From the mains, the salmon is rather well executed, though it sang the same sweet tune as several other dishes in the mains and apps.

Happy hour of $5 drafts and food bites is already back at BoHo, making it the best craft beer pub, dollar for dollar. On weekends, bottomless mimosas & bloody marys are back as well; now we just need to await the return of the brunch menu.

BoHo 2.0
4th Floor, next to The Grill
6801 Hollywood Blvd #411
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323)465-8500
Validated Parking $2 for 4 hours

The full name of this joint is Ricos Marisco El Rey del Maz. No kidding. How’s a gringo s’pose to remember that?

The crowning of Mexicali Tacos as LATacos.com 2011 champ begs the question: what if you do not like carne asada? What if your parents always took you on vacations in La Paz and all you want is a single fried fish taco, without trekking up to Hollywood-adjacent? What if you’re a fashion blogger in… God forbid… Alhambra? With a hankering for fish tacos?

The answer is clear: Ricos Tacos, in East Los Angeles.

Chances are, it’ll be open. In fact, it’s almost always open. There are no trick hours. This truck doesn’t have a twitter account, it doesn’t have blogger groupies. What it does have, is the underbellies of East LA passing through, collecting your Sangria bottle, your hecho en Mexico Coca Cola, just as you finish.

Is the fish as delicate as those at Best Fish Tacos Enseneda? Probably not. Is it as expertly fried as Ricky’s? Probably not. What you get are 2 fish filets, gently fried to the shade of Fish-O-Filet, for $3. Wrapped in the rather large corn tortilla, the fried filets, topped with rather thin crema and cabbage, present a hand-to-mouth challenge; hence Team Ricos provides forks. And if you’re lucky, you can find the napkin box to complete the eating process. Most locals ask for “con chile”, but the chile hot sauce is (again) rather thin, and presents minimal burn, so don’t go “sin” on it. Other popular choices are the cocteles, and the gigantuan paper plateful of various marisco on tostada.

There’s hardly a place to properly eat these floppy plates of seafood, even if you’re not Mimi Sheraton. Thankfully, the El Super supermarket’s parking lot is merely steps away, as is the equally fabulous Cemitas Tepeaca.

Ricos Tacos (Marisco El Rel del Maz)
(by El Super)
430 N Indiana St
Los Angeles, CA 9006

– SinoSoul.com

About a month ago, I wrote up this useless post about a bowl of pho ga which has been around since May. I chose to not divulge this info for “Under $10″ due to the restaurant rescinding the offer in early July. Since then, I’ve been asked numerous times when this special will return.

As of last week, $3.50 got you a large bowl of pho ga (chicken) again. We all already think $6 bowls of beef pho all around LA, SGV & Little Saigon are tremendous values, but then, there also exists a gushing review of a vegan $6.50 banh mi sammy in Reseda. This particular bowl of lighter pho, relatively to that banh mi, is the king of Vietnamese cheap.

»continue reading $3.50 Bowl of Chicken Pho! Pho Ha, Rosemead

That’s right. We’ve gone off the deep end dining wagon. This is straight up ghetto. LAist recently did a study of the “fish dogs” at Wienerschnitzels hence it’s only right Losanjealous will now present the $2.99 Big Bite 1/4 pound hot dog from 7-11.

»continue reading Under $5: A $2.99 date with 7-11

This joint, as all joints that you don’t know, is really hard to find first time out. It’s just a across the lot from the Anh Hong, the 7 course beef joint, and it’s also across the drive way from Di Vang 3. On the north side of Westminter Ave, right before Brookhurst.

I haven’t set foot inside this plaza in at least 5 yrs, the last time we were here for 7 course beef @ Anh Hong. Things are… well.. different. But not exactly that different. Di Vang is up to #3 now, and the $1.99 restaurants are now $2.99…

»continue reading $2.99 (!!!) Fried Chicken @ Song Huong, Garden Grove

Awhile back, a lil bloggin’ birdie dropped some poop which led to this craptastic pie at Coop. Still love you Ronnie, tho BARELY.

This is one of the better slices in the Westside, beyond Joe’s in Santa Monica. The gentleman, Mr. La Rocco, can be seen grubbin on his own product, doing the crossword puzzle(?) on a random early evening. He likes fresh roma tomatoes with garlic knots. That’s respectable.

Not sure where the actual pie slingers are from, but this is what makes this joint great: the puttanesca slice. Sugo alla puttanesca has been falsely portrayed as sauce in the style of a whore in Italian. While the blogger/writer Steve Parzen clearly dispeled any notion the puttanesca sauces are whorish, it is no doubt tasty. Traditionally, puttanesca has involved olive, salted anchovies, tomatoes and chili flakes, LaRocco’s version utilizes artichokes, basil and pecorino romano to give the sense of a kitchen sink spilling over onto the pizza. Recipes evocative of kitchen sink are often some of the finest assemblages of ethnic cuisine: think bi bimp bap.

»continue reading Way under $10: LaRocco Pizza, Culver City

»continue reading Downtown Burger Assery: D-Town Burger Bar

Following the footsteps of Christian so and so, the publisher of “What Stuff People Like”, now available in print, you decide to partake in a bit of #71 action: “Being the only white person in the room”. In the morning, from say Silver Lake, or Echo Park, City of Alhambra is only a quick 20 minute jaunt. If you’re on your fixie, I’d suggest shelling out the big bucks at La Mill. But given the opportunity, the little ladies of Banh Mi My Tho throw down a better breakfast than Mr. Adrian Vasquez (who recently became a father to a baby daughter, and of course, is the pastry chef behind LA Mill’s gourmet eats).

the clusterF that is BMMT

»continue reading A superior $3 breakfast sandwich: Banh Mi My Tho, Alhambra

Jasmine is the .5 of the 2.5 Burmese restaurants in all of LA.

Why only .5? Cuz they only have 5 Burmese dishes. I remember reading about this joint last year, but promptly dismissed it due to: again, only 5 Burmese dishes, and: it’s wayy the eff far in Culver City. Alas, a year after Mr. Gold’s article in LA Weekly came out, a certain West Side cheap food go-to guy ** WAVE to Wilbur** reminded me of its existence.

Tho I perused several Chowhound page, I ended up with all Indian dishes as they were out of the mohinga – fish noodle soup – so we ended up w/ a mild chicken tikka and a bow of lamb curry. The chicken tikka was served like a plate lunch, w/ a side of alu gobi cauliflower & veggies. The lamb curry came w/ naan and rice. Both curries were on the brothy, thin side. Lamb curry was ordered spicy, but ended up with medium punch. Medium is good. My toilet appreciates medium. Alu gobi was also thinner than usual just like the curries, but it was just enough to tease the palate and compliment the chicken tikka.

»continue reading Panning for $5 grub Gold: Jasmine Market, Culver City