Considering Obama at The Spro

An audience gathers to watch Barack Obama at The Spro.

President-Elect Barack Obama stopped in Baltimore today on his train trip to Washington DC where he will be inaugurated on Tuesday. To be quite honest, I've been cautiously optimistic about Obama since he was elected. So many seem so eager and earnest about Barack that I can't help but think that maybe they've drank too much of the Kool Aid. Will he be the Saviour that many make him out to be? Or will he be the Anti-Christ that brings peace to the Middle East but our collective doom as foretold in the Bible? Only time will tell.

As the day draws near, I can't help but feel as though I'm being seduced by the lure of hope. For as long as I've been of voting age, I've been cynical of government and politicians. It's mattered little whether the politician had an "R" or "D" after their name and state, it's always been the people on the short end of the stick. But there's so much frenzy about him and I've seen a disproportionate number of people older than me with that glimmer of a dream in their eyes when it comes to Barack Obama.

I wonder if it was like this during John F. Kennedy's election? The stories I grew up with painted those years as a modern-day Camelot. A golden era and wondrous time. It's hard not to think that we live in enchanted times as well - and this in spite of prolonged war across the world and disastrous economic times at home.

Of course, I have friends who are die-hard conservatives and the rise of a democrat president is the herald of doom for them. Such a strange dichotomy. And one I'll never understand.

Meanwhile, I remain cautiously optimistic but increasingly seduced by this president from Hawai'i.

Busting My Tables

I don't know how many of you are involved in hiring but I've finally decided to hire another barista at The Spro. In the past, I've done lengthy posts on CraigsList on the qualities we're looking for and what we offer. Some have included exciting language, others have included images and I think we've done pretty well on CraigsList - we've found some great people who became excellent baristas.

The one thing about the historic CraigsList postings is that they never turn out a lot of applicants. A few here, a few there. And while the field wasn't large, we found some gems.

Following my M.O., I decided to post another CL (that's CraigsList folks) posting looking for one barista. Unlike my previous hiring notices, this one was quite benign, it read:

"Spro Coffee is looking for one individual who is ready to become quite simply one of the best baristas in the nation. Must have an interest in coffee, quality and people. Our methods are exacting and our customers are varied. If you have an interest in coffee and a passion fro people then we would like to hear from you. That's our simple criteria. Forward your resumes to the email in this post or feel free to drop a resume off at our espresso bar inside the Public Library in Towson - no phones calls, resumes only."

Pretty simple, I think. Now, maybe things have changed at CL, maybe The Spro enjoys a higher profile or maybe the economic environment is so bad out there that people are getting desperate. Whatever the case may be, in the past three days, I have been hit by a never-ending stream of resumes. In the past, I may have received eight. Now I've got thirty. I only need one barista.

Not that I'm complaining. Back in the Jay's Shave Ice days, I would pour through a hundred applications at a time to find the one or two new people we would hire for the season. Add to that our vetting and hiring process and it was a large task. Our system at The Spro is tame by comparison.

As we were reviewing some of the resumes last night, I was reminded of some of the folly I saw quite a bit of "back in the day." Resumes from people who clearly didn't really read the criteria we were looking for. Resumes that looked like form letters. Resumes that were tailored for other jobs with other companies - one resume said the applicants' objective was to secure a job at a specific clothing retailer. You wonder if this person read their resume before sending it.

Then there were the sad but obvious errors in spelling and grammar. I would expect that if you worked for J.C. Penney then you would not spell it: "JC Pennys." Another applicants' previous experience at a restaurant included "bust tables." As an owner, I don't think I would be too happy if one of my staff starting busting my tables...

Even in the rough, you'll find some promising applicants. The ones with varied interests and hobbies seem like they might be a good fit. While many of my contemporaries insist on a love of and for coffee as a prerequisite, I don't. I'm interested in people with a passion for something. People with an open mind willing to try new and different things. To my mind, it's okay if someone isn't "into" coffee, they just have to be open and committed to learning about coffee. And if they're passionate about their interests then I believe there's something there to work with. What I don't want are people who just don't care about anything except their own self-interest, they're a recipe for disaster.

Some applicants come with past coffeeshop history. This can be a mixed bag. Some can transition well, as the case is with one of my baristas who was formerly a Starbucks trainer. Others have habits and beliefs that are too ingrained as "the only right way" to do things and are unable to adapt. Our methods and standards are quite exacting, and quite frankly, most other shops just aren't up to muster. In cases like that, I'd rather take someone with no experience, spend more time and money on training and develop a barista to our standards instead of attempting to unwind years of previous experience and rebuild.

As I've been writing this, another six resumes have landed in my mailbox. I need to delete that CL entry. I've already got more applicants than necessary. Sadly, in this batch of applicants, quite a lot of them will not make the grade right off the bat because of their resumes. Some will make it to the meeting stage. Fewer will get an actual interview and only one will be hired.

Time to get to work.

Pseudo Vide

Starting the water bath preheat at 170F.

I've been playing around with sous vide techniques for the past year now and while I've found it infinitely fascinating, I realize that it's not something that the average home cook can do at home. First of all, the expense to get into sous vide cooking is quite considerable. I use the PolyScience Immersion Circulator, an amazing piece of equipment that allows you to control bath temperature with 1/10th of a degree. It costs $969 - not an inconsequential sum for the home user.

But that's not all, you also need a vacuum sealer to create the anaerobic environment you want for sous vide cooking. Ideally, you want to use a chamber vacuum sealer, like the Minipack-torre MVS31, an "affordable" chamber vac for $2,085. Again, not an insignificant amount of money for the home cook.


After half an hour at 225F, water temp is 136F.

And since I'm not made of money, it's also rather consequential to me - though I am saving my tips to buy one soon. Instead, I make do with a FoodSaver because it's relatively cheap (mine was $175 at Costco) and will do most of the job that a chamber vacuum will do. The big differences between the chamber and the FoodSaver is the ability for the chamber to control pressure hardness that will allow you to do things like change the texture of fruits and other compressed foods that really doesn't work very well in the FoodSaver. Plus, the FoodSaver, compared to the smallest of chamber vacs, is so compact you can keep in on your kitchen counter.

So I've been thinking: how can we achieve sous vide-like results without the expenditure of up to $3,000?

The biggest factor and advantage of sous vide is the controlled temperature environment of the water bath. It's crucial. For many applications, we're cooking the meat at 58.0C (136.4F). This brings the temperature of the meat to a medium rare within an hour and we can hold it at that temperature indefinitely until the meat has reached the desired texture and consistency. For the tenderloin we made this past Christmas, we sous vide(d) the tenderloin for four hours at 58.0C and then finished with a blow torch. The results were succulent, tender and juicy, with the perfect bright pink interior.


Twenty minutes into the cook, bath temp is at 141F.

We've explored sous vide steak before, and since that time, I've improved on my technique a bit (I hope). If we take a one pound steak, season it then vacuum bag it, we'll cook that steak in a 58.0C water bath for 50 minutes. The result is a beautiful pink interior that's just hard to beat. We can take it out a couple of hours to help break down the fibers but 12 hours would be too long (I found out the hard way).

Sous vide allows us to cook to a certain temperature and then no more. In a 136F water bath, the steak will always and only be 136F. It will not turn grey as it would at 160F. But while it's easy to believe that a 136F steak will always be a 136F steak, there is a point where the meat will start to turn mealy, gritty and dry - all the while maintaining it's wonderful pink coloration.


Holding steady at 141F.

The parameters of our experiment are to use only normal home cooking apparatus. No vacuum sealers and no immersion circulators. How can we achieve sous vide results using pseudo vide techniques?

For this, we're going to take a normal cooking pan (in this case a Vollrath 2" deep 1/2 hotel pan - okay, not exactly your mother's casserole but it's what I had handy), an oven, a Ziplock Freezer Bag and a seasoned steak.

First the steak: I went out to (horror of horrors) Costco and picked up a three pack of New York Strip steaks, about a pound each. Being commercial corn-fed, they're not my usual tasty deliciousness but for our experiment, they would suffice.

Season the steaks with a liberal amount of salt and pepper then place in a large Ziplock Freezer Bag. The reason I'm rather specific is that you want a sturdy and thick plastic bag to minimize the possibility of punctures. Nothing ruins a sous vide cook session than water in your food.


After forty minutes, our pseudo vide steak is ready to come out.

And don't be afraid with the seasoning. Give it a liberal application of salt and pepper. Some of you may be surprised that I don't use more exotic seasonings but I'm one who prefers to let the natural flavors of the meat speak for themselves and I find that the salt and pepper accentuates rather than masks the flavor of the meat.

Using your hands, squeeze out as much air from the bag as you can and then seal the Ziplock 95% closed, leaving just a small gap no bigger than your mouth as an opening. Now, it's time to suck.

Using your mouth, suck the remaining air out of the Ziplock bag until the plastic forms tightly around the meat, creating a light vacuum. Quickly seal the remainder of the Ziplock and make sure the seal is tight, secure and the vacuum remains. If there are any air pockets, open the bag and do it all over again. Be sure to get as tight a vacuum as your lungs can produce.


Pseudo Vide Steak ready for finishing.

Once sealed, refrigerate the steak until it chills to 38F. You can leave it overnight if you wish but don't exceed three days. If you can't get back to it for over three day, freeze it.

When you're ready to begin, take a roasting pan and fill it with warm water. Preheat your oven to 225F. Place water pan into oven.

At home, I'm using a KitchenAid double-stack convection oven. It's nearly new and can hold temperature down to 170F. I started here and after 40 minutes, the water bath was only reading 118F, not nearly hot enough. I realized that while the ambient temperature might be 170F, the water would take a lot longer reaching the same temperature. I needed to boost it faster and raised the temp to 225F. To measure water temperature, I'm using a Fluke 51 Series II thermometer.


Adding the finishing touches with a blowtorch.

After another 20 minutes at 225F, the water temperature had reached 136F. Time to drop the steak into the water. With a cold steak going into the bath, I was certain that the bath temp would dip so we would need to maintain oven temp to recover. While I set the oven timer to 50 minutes, I knew we would have to check the temperature as we proceeded and make cook time adjustments as necessary.

From here, it's just a waiting game. Every fifteen minutes, I would check the bath temp. About twenty minutes into the cook, the water temp reached 141.5F, a bit hotter than I would prefer but not too bad. At that temp, the juices might start to be squeezed out of the muscle fibers. If I couldn't keep it below 140F then we might have to cut the cook time.

As the cook progressed, the water temperature remained roughly the same. Decided to drop the temp to 200F and to cut the cook time by ten minutes. Cook time would be 40 minutes instead of 50.

At fifty minutes, I decided to pull the meat from the water bath. The seals' integrity had not been compromised and the steak had that lightly gray/red exterior color that seems typical for sous vide. There was very little juice in the bag meaning that the steak had maintained most of its' water content and yield.


Finished and ready to serve.

From there, all that was necessary was exterior caramelization. You can simply pan sear both sides of the steak until you get the color you desire. For this test, I decided to avail myself of the blowtorch. Nothing caps a technologically enhanced steak like an open flame from a propane blowtorch. Color to your desires.

But what is the end result? As the cross cut image shows, we were able to achieve a pink interior with very little gray ring on the outer edge. This is ideal. The meat itself was tender, moist and pretty darn good.

I had originally started this project thinking that it would not be possible to achieve a sous vide cooktime because I expected the oven to bring the water bath temperature to its' ambient temperature. As we can see, it takes a considerable amount of time to do that using the convection fan. I expect a non-convection oven to work similarly but take longer in its' water heating cycle.


Pink in the center with two eggs on top. Nice.

Some of the naysayers out there (my friends) said that this method wouldn't be possible because of the imprecise nature of an oven. And while it's true that an oven can and will go through swings in temperature, it seems that this temperature swing is mitigated by the water bath - being that the bath doesn't fluctuate temperature as readily. While it's probably not suitable for sous vide cooking that requires precision to the tenth of a degree (like with soft eggs), it can be utilized for cooking proteins in this manner - and with good results, as long as the cook times are relatively short.

Which brings up another problem. While we've seen that short cook times (under 60 minutes) can utilize this technique, during a long cook session, the water bath will, at some point, equalize to the ambient temperature of the oven, destroying the effect of sous vide cooking. 200F is way too hot for sous vide. So too is 170F - and I realize that most ovens out there won't go down that low. So while steaks are possible, sous vide braised ribs are not, unless you monitor and regulate temperature the whole time, which defeats the convenience of sous vide.

In the end, it was a fun experiment but I think I'll stick with my immersion circulator. Thanks PolyScience.

The Power Of Christ Compels You

It must be Divine Intervention.

I've been sitting here this morning at The Spro pondering Christian Dogma when the Reverend Kevin Dupree (who some of you may remember as the barista who won the Mister Congeniality Award at the first Mid-Atlantic Regional Barista Championship in 2006) stopped by to say hello. It had to be a sign.

Because I had been thiking about a new approach to customers here at The Spro. An experiment of sorts.

All across America (and I presume the world), Born Again Christians greet each other (and everyone else) with warm greetings of Christ's Love. To be honest, it's beautiful sentiment that screeches against the self-absorbed world we live in today. And whenever someone comes up to me with a big smile on their face, a sparkle in their eyes and the greeting "Have a blessed day," I'm put off by it.

It's not offensive. It's just so odd, weird and jarring in this world of ours - a world full of hate, envy and greed. Even though I know deep inside that it's probably a heartfelt and meaningful phrase generously shared, I still find it odd and nearly offensive. Besides that, it's just weird.

Now, before hoards of Christians converge en masse in our tiny hamlet of Towson on a Crusade to exorcise me of The Devil's Ways (I won't go quietly), let me state that I mean no offense in any of this. I'm just fascinated by our reactions to such messages of warmth and brotherhood. Weirded out, yes. But fascinated nonetheless.

I wonder if other people experience this same reaction of apprehension when confronted with such a greeting and I've decided to thank our customers and send them off with a heaven felt greeting to see what (if any) reaction they might have and I encourage all of you, my gentle readers, to try this in your own lives and report back here on your findings. Will people react positively? Will they run away in fear? Will they look at you strangely? Will your friends stop returning your phone calls? Let us know!

And may you go in peace to love and serve The Lord. Have a Blessed Day!

Here We Go Again

My Mileage Plus statement on January 1, 2009.

After my Race To The End Of The Year Mileage Run to Denver and Salt Lake City this past week to requalify for Premier Executive, the New Year also means that everything is reset back to zero and I must fly another 50,000 miles to qualify for 2010.

It's disheartening to see all those zeros again.

My butt hurts.

2008: A Year In Books

On at least one evening during most weeks, you'll find me at the local Border's Books perusing the aisles of typically overpriced (compared to Amazon.com) books to add to my ever-growing collection. In the early part of the decade, these were dominated by books on business and business thought. For the past year or so, the focus has been on food and cookbooks as I attempt to explore further into the blending of coffee and cuisine.

Years ago, the tomes available to the home cook were rather tepid, with the highlights from my college-era days being Craig Claiborne's The New New York Times Cookbook and Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines. Other notable works in my old collection are: California Cooking by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking, Second Edition, and Beth Hensperger's Bread - a book who's recipes hold fond memories of me mixing dough and then taking long, hair-raising rides through country roads in my 1986 Volkswagen GTI with the dough proofing and rising in the GTI's boot.

A couple of years ago, I broke down and bought Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook, a seminal work that presented his dishes as they were prepared and served at the famed French Laundry. The recipes were tough and not so easy to make at home but really represented what I desired to learn: how to do what the pros do as they do it.

But 2008 was the year that the cookbook world really changed. They got serious. Chefs started to present their recipes without the compromises of the home kitchen. What? You don't have a Polyscience Immersion Circulator, Thermomix or induction range? Tough, you're screwed. Man up and go buy them. Don't complain and don't be a wuss.

For those of us who were waiting for the arrival of these Dead Sea Scrolls, the difficult part was that many of the larger works arrived in the fall, making it nearly impossible to digest the newly acquired information in a short period of time. Where once the chefs were content to offer the recipes, techniques and some information about their purveyors, this new breed of cookbook delves into philosophy, history, context and art, creating massive works that amaze and confound. This is a short list of some of my favored acquisitions in 2008:

Alinea - Grant Achatz
Probably the most anticipated work of the year. I dined at Alinea in February 2007 and came away amazed. Amazed at the technical brilliance of it all. How does one do this level of work? It's all contained here. It's certainly not easy, and you will need specialized equipment to recreate the dishes. And if you decide to procure the equipment, it will be quite expensive - you might as well open a restaurant (or a wannabe cutting edge coffee house...).

The Big Fat Duck Cookbook - Heston Blumenthal
When I first read the title listing on Amazon, com, I thought they were using a euphemism for "big." Boy, was I wrong. This book isn't "big", it's absolutely massive. The only book that rivals its' girth is A Day at El Bulli - and that's mostly pictures. In this work, Blumenthal lets it all hang out. It's filled with recipes, techniques and art. There's so much to savor, to read and to learn - it's overwhelming. So overwhelming that one is tempted to run away in fear upon opening the book for the fortieth time.

Under Pressure - Thomas Keller
Joan Roca's Sous Vide Cuisine really set the standard for works on this old but now new method of cooking, so what makes Keller's book a "must own"? Number One: it's in English, which makes it far easier to use than having to translate everything (actually, I know there's some printed in English, but I've never seen one yet). Keller and company have been using sous vide for several years now and have accumulated a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Happily, they share most of it in this book. Unfortunately, as of this writing, it's one of those books that I haven't delved into too deeply because of all the other books that came out in the fall.

*** Chef - Gordon Ramsay
Some people dislike his brash and angry ways, but I like Gordon Ramsay. He's a man I can respect. Quite possibly because he's so brash and angry. Whatever the case, this book is vastly different than the other works you see on the shelf. This is a serious book demonstrating exactly what he's doing on Royal Hospital Road in London.

A Day at El Bulli - Ferran Adria
Time to face facts: I've been denied a reservation in 2009. I must accept it. I must acknowledge that I can only fantasize about the drive to Roses and being welcomed by his staff and dazzled by his latest creations. Meanwhile, I can use this book as the ultimate Fantasy Food Porn, flip through the pages imagining myself and Eliza Dushku stealing suggestive glances across the table while savoring each luscious bite and then dancing all night in the privacy of our Spanish cottage. My life is shattered.

And while to the casual observer it may seem like just another picture book, it is so much more. There's actual recipes in the book - and considering that the standard El Bulli Cookbooks cost about US$400, this one is an absolute steal at 1/10th the price.

On The Line - Eric Ripert
If you've ever wanted to know how a restaurant like Le Bernardin is run, all you need is this book. It's filled with stories on how they do things, their philosophies and their recipes. I just got it and ended up pouring through it in a couple of days.


While those are the most notable acquisitions, I thought I would also provide a list of other recent acquisitions that I particularly am fond of:

Beyond The Great Wall - Jeffrey Alford
Refined American Cuisine - Patrick O'Connell
Au Pied de Cochon - The Album - Martin Picard
The Whole Beast - Fergus Henderson
The Balthazar Cookbook - Keith McNally
The Green Chile Bible - Albuquerque Tribune
Cooking with Cafe Pascual's - Katharine Kagel

Here's looking to more reading in 2009!

Ugh, Crap.

I know it's been awhile since I've posted to the blog but I've been away again (go figure). Seems that whenever I travel I end up falling behind and am left with a pile of posts to post, and then there's a blizzard of posts that fill in the time that I've been away. I'm finding that travel writing (writing while traveling, that is) is quite tough.

Never fear, I've got a whole slew of posts coming your way over the next week (or two). I've spent the last two weeks on the West Coast in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas where I visited all sorts of friends, coffee friends, restaurants and just generally tried to get into trouble.

In Los Angeles, I made sure to hit coffee favorites like Urth, Intelligentsia, LA Mill and Luxe, while eating at La Casita, Babita and sampling baked goodness at places like Chantilly and Vanilla. In San Francisco, I availed myself of A16, Ritual, Four Barrel, Barefoot and more than too much drinking in the Napa Valley at both Raymond and Silver Oak. Then in Vegas it was dinner at CraftSteak, the De La Hoya Pacquiao Fight, tacos galore and discounted VIP service at Spearmint Rhino.

Two weeks was a long time to be away from the blog but I'll be back soon with complete updates on all the places.

Los Angeles: Scoops

Baby Ian plots his escape.

We're back. Again.

Ever since my last visit to Scoops a year ago, we've been thinking about their ice cream. Specifically, their Brown Bread ice cream. That odd combination of vanilla ice cream and Grape Nuts that we can't seem to get enough of. Who are these people and what kind of Black Magic are they putting into that bread?


The Brown Bread Ice Cream.


Mom and Dad at Scoops.



Scoops
712 North Heliotrope
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-906-2649

Los Angeles: Thai Patio

House Shrimp Cake - Deep fried shrimp paste mixed with house spice.


Thai Sausage - Grilled Thai sour pork sausage with cabbage, fresh ginger and peanut.


Papaya Salad - Shredded green papaya with peanut, tomato, green bean and dry shrimp.


Fresh Squid in broth.


Crispy Pork Belly Basil - Crispy pork belly stir fried with onion, bell pepper and sweet basil.


Panang - Thai chili paste with chicken, bell pepper and basil in coconut milk.


Pla Rad Prik - Deep fried whole fish topped with house garlic and chili sauce.


Tom Yum - Spicy and sour soup with shrimp, mushroom and tomatoes.


Pad Thai


Thai Patio Hollywood
5273 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-466-3894

Los Angeles: Vanilla Bake Shop

Chocolate topped Vanilla cupcake baby with flower.

I always find myself in this predicament: walk into a shop and wish that I had done this.

After cruising around Abbott-Kinney and exploring the bakeries there, Mom, Polly and myself headed onward to Santa Monica to visit Vanilla. Cupcakes are a side project at Spro and Mom does 80% of the baking for the shop. Our adventure today was part reconnaissance, part education and part nutrition.

I think it's important to see how other people do things and taste their offerings. It educates both the mind and the palate and, hopefully, gives one insight into how things might be done better. It's a major reason why I spend so much time traveling and write so many words on merely visiting places and eating.


Cakes and desserts

There's only one way to describe Vanilla: cute. It's such a cute little shop and bakery on Wilshire. I loved the decor and the little VBS baby jumpers that were for sale. The decor and the presentation is so well thought out. Where Chantilly's presentation was for the Japanese crowd, Vanilla's is decidedly for rich, white people - er, people from Santa Monica. It's the kind of place that garners media attention. The kind of place celebrities are spotted and chased after. And while typically, that would be a bad sign, Vanilla's just too cute not to visit.

In the case, they've got baby cupcakes and regular cupcakes, and at $3.25 per cupcake (3 babies for $5), they're not cheap. They're downright nouveau riche.


Little desserts to tempt you.

At The Spro, we sell our handmade cupcakes for $2 each - and I still have customers who complain that it's "too much." Never mind that we use the best quality ingredients we possibly can source and it costs us a lot more than Tastykake to make - sometimes I'd like to choke these people who protest too much.

But that's neither here nor there. Although, I always wonder just how many people come into places like Vanilla to complain about their prices...

To be honest, the 2000s hype over the cupcake has me a bit baffled. They're not impossible to make, and so many of them are kinda meh. I can't tell you how many have actually disappointed me - and these were from some of the most famous of cupcake bakeries. Dry, crumbly - one was even undercooked. While I'm not as weary of cupcake bakeries as I am of coffeeshops, the alert meter is on the rise.


A Box of Babies.

Vanilla's cupcakes are like the shop: cute! Very cute. I like the molds they're using to bake them in. They stand high and vertical instead of the wide and flared like typical cupcake molds. Most of the icing is merely piped on the cupcakes out of a bag. And while it is pretty and attractive-looking, I find it disappointing. It takes real time and skill to apply icing on individual cupcakes with a spatula and create designs and patterns. Simply piping on icing and adding a topping is cute and attractive but it doesn't take skill or craftsmanship.

Inside the display are full sized cakes. They are gorgeous. They are expensive ($55 for a 9" red velvet), but they are quite pretty. Vanilla also offers parfait kind of desserts. Basically big mason jars (with flip top lid) filled with parfait. It's attractive, amazing and enticing all at once. I think we bought one but I don't think we ever ate it. It must have gotten pushed to the back of the fridge. Damn.


Little Gingerbread Man about to die.

We ended up taking an assorted box of cupcake babies with us. Happily, they were good. Moist cake and tasty. I think I ate three. I think I need more....



Vanilla Bake Shop
512 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-458-6644
www.vanillabakeshop.com

Los Angeles: Caffe Luxe

A very nice macchiato on the bar at Caffe Luxe.

Next up on our West Side Bakery and Coffeeshop Tour was Caffe Luxe. Over the past year, Luxe has been quietly making a name for itself within the specialty coffee community. The space itself is quite nice. Lots of white. Lots of black granite countertops. Low granite countertops, I should add. And the staff is quite friendly.

When it comes to Third Wave coffeeshops, Luxe has got all the factors down. Three group Synesso Cyncra, grinders and nice baristas making nice drinks. At a loss for what I should order and on the verge of heart palpitations due to over-caffeination, I went for a simple macchiato.


The Synesso Cyncra - the Third Wave espresso machine poster child.

We were only at Luxe briefly but the macchiato was good. The milk was a little bubbly but the espresso had a rich dark chocolate flavor with slight bitter notes. Wish we could have stayed longer but we had a nice time checking out their place.


Caffe Luxe
925 Montana Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-394-2222
www.caffeluxxe.com/

Los Angeles: Urth Caffe

Number 84 Gets A Bird.

For many years I've been hearing about Urth Caffe in Santa Monica from coffee friends all over. "Go and visit Urth," they would say. But I never did. Just never did. Until now.

As we were making our way down main street, there it was. And it is huge. I had been expecting some sort of small, funky little coffee joint, not some huge, towering, atrium-esque kind of coffee palace. And it was jam packed.

In the world of specialty coffee, it's still unusual to find places that do the volume that Urth does. The line was easily fifteen deep - and it's the middle of the afternoon. Of course, Urth has been here for years, it's well established and it's a fashionable looking and fashionable place to be seen. Celebrities come and go. Bimmer owners come and go. Typical L.A. dickheads come and go.

In fact, one of those typical L.A. dickheads was there while we were there. Whatever slight the staff may have caused ended up with him shouting at the top of his lungs for a "manager." Evidently, a cake he ordered was missing and he wasn't getting satisfaction.

While I can sympathize with the Dickhead, looking around I can't help wonder why anyone would ever special order anything in a place that's as busy as Urth. It's absolutely crazy in there. The pace looks furious. Oh no, if I needed to special order a cake, I'd go somewhere where it was a little bit saner. Vanilla Bake Shop maybe?

Not feeling very hungry and not really knowing what to order, I went for something "safe": a cappuccino. For here.

At Urth, you fall in line, choose a pastry (if you desire) and tell the staff your order. It's busy enough that there's a guy in the line writing down your order so the cashiers can process it faster. Once paid, you're given a number and proceed to find an open table. Since we're just getting a drink and there's an Italian style bar by the espresso machines, I go there.

Obviously, it's not chic to stand at the bar and drink your coffee here at Urth (and possibly L.A.). The barista tells me that it's okay to find a seat and they'll bring the drink to me. I tell him that I'd prefer to stand (and gawk).

Throughout the restaurant business, Hispanics have been infiltrating the kitchens. Eat just about any cuisine at restaurants across America and chances are that it's being prepared by someone who was born speaking Espanol. Even in suburban Columbia, Maryland there's a kitchen full of La Raza preparing Vietnamese Pho that you'd swear came from some Vietnamese grandmother who lived through the French Occupation and Viet-Cong.


Los Hombres making Gringo Baristas look wimpy.

I've been wondering when we'd start to see Hispanics in the ranks of specialty coffee baristas and at Urth I found them.

Here were two Mexican guys (I'm presuming considering the accent of their Spanish) cranking out really nice espresso drinks on par with those Third Wave Baristas you read so much about in Barista Magazine. The difference with these two were that they were multilingual, dressed nicely, had no tats, didn't put a lot of "flare" in their technique, and didn't base their attitude and service on the amount you tipped or whether they thought you were a democrat or republican. in other words, these guys were professionals, and they were drilling out the drinks like nobody's business.

To be honest, Urth looked like a stylish indie coffeeshop. A coffeeshop built on style not substance. I wasn't expecting noteworthy coffee. I was expecting pretty much what you'd find at coffeeshops all across America. I was expecting dreck, or some form of dreck.

Instead, I was served a tasty cappuccino with latte art that even I couldn't produce. The milk was textured perfectly. The shots looked brilliant and they came together in that proper combination that baristas worldwide seek to create with the perfect milk foam Yin to the espresso crema's Yang.

As he was pouring the milk, the design looked a bit sloshy. Oh well, I thought, everyone messes up their latte art pour every once in a while. What I didn't realize then was that the pour wasn't a mistake, it was by design. And that Pinche Loco Hombre topped my cappuccino off with a fucking bird! Gracias, mi amor.

A bird. damn bird. I've seen birds on the Internet but never in real life. Birds were something that a guy in Japan screws with and puts up a video on YouTube. It's something that these guys do for fun. For show. Something that's done in a lab or afterhours as a party prank or way to show your balls.

Oh, but these guys weren't pouring birds afterhours. No. They were pouring birds ON THE LINE in the middle of service while drilling out hundreds of drinks.

La Raza has finally infiltrated our ranks.

I must recruit them for The Spro.





Urth Caffe
2327 Main St
Santa Monica, CA 90405
310-314-7040
www.urthcaffee.com

Los Angeles: 26 Beach

Chicken Curry Pasta - Thai Red Curry simmered with chicken breast, peas and linguini.

It shouldn't surprise me, but it does. Every time I visit Los Angeles I'm continually amazed by the breadth of food this metropolis has to offer. Maybe I'm "too mainstream" but when I think of "L.A." the "hip" places come to mind. Places like Providence, Mozza and Spago. Luckily, Al, Polly and my friends live here so I get to experience an L.A. removed from the hype.

With Mom in tow, we're cruising around Venice Beach visiting more pastry shops, like Jin Patisserie, and seeing just what else L.A. has to offer. It's about 11:30am, which means it's time to each lunch.

Me? I would have gone to places that I know about. Places like Father's Office in Santa Monica or Lilly's on Abbott-Kinney. I never would have thought about the place Polly took us: 26 Beach in Marina Del Rey.

Located on Washington Boulevard, getting into 26 Beach's parking lot can be a bit tricky. As you're approaching the restaurant (by car, with the restaurant to your right), the entrance to the back lot is immediately to the right of the restaurant - which means for us, it's NOW. A hard and quick turn to the right and you squeeze your car down a very narrow lane to a small parking lot in the back. Don't come in too fast because some fool might try to come out the way they came in (wrong), or some L.A. soccer mom is sitting in the middle of lane just because, and you don't want to hit any of the kitchen help as they schlep bags back and forth from the dumpster.

Squeeze into a space and you're good to go. Walk around to the front entrance and all is good.


Polly's Ginger Salmon Salad - Fresh Sauteed Salmon with asparagus, mushrooms in a soy dressing on a bed of greens and cilantro.

The restaurant is divided into two main sections, the sort-of outside part and the inside. The sort-of outside part features ceiling height walls with overhead coverage but is otherwise open-air. The set up and decor is eclectic and funky. To the right is the inside part of the restaurant. It's much more chic looking with supple fabrics, wood furniture, soft lighting and a small bar. Surprisingly, Mom chose to sit in the pseudo outside part of the restaurant.

With a name like 26 Beach, you'd think the name has something to do with the restaurant. Maybe it's on the beach? No. Maybe the address is 26? Nope. I checked their website, but there's nothing there either, but it does state that they're celebrating their 26th year in business. Maybe in 2009 the restaurant will be called "27 Beach."

Once seated, service starts out a bit on the rocky side. Where's our waitress? Maybe a drink order? Who knows what's going on but we sit for at least ten minutes before our waitress comes to greet us and take a drink order. Normally, I'd be a bit perturbed but I'm technically on vacation and I supposedly work in foodservice - I really don't want to get worked up unless something really egregious happens. Plus, I'm with my Mom and I just don't want to make an issue of it. But certainly ten minutes is beyond reasonable.

Finally, our waitress comes and she's nice. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and guess that perhaps they didn't assign her to our table but she did greet and take the order of the two ladies seated next to and after us before getting to us.


Mom and PB&J Burger - Creamy Skippy peanut butter & Knott's Strawberry Jam.

The menu, like the setting, is eclectic. On the menu are eggs, burgers, salads, Asian noodles and chilaquiles. God knows I would never begrudge a restaurant for offering chilaquiles but to my East Coast eyes, it's kinda odd. But the word is that the food is good so I'm game.

As we look over the menu, Mom surprises me asking about the chilaquiles. I know I have to have them but the only small order of chilaquiles they offer is the sinister sounding "Chilaquiles Diablo" where the menu states: "...if you are afraid of heat, stay away!"

My Mom isn't one to tolerate much in the way of spicy foods. Even black pepper can be too powerful for her. With such a message about the chilaquiles, I'm not worried about her handling it as much as I'm worried about whether or not I can handle it. I decide to go for it anyway and if it's too much, we can order the other chilaquiles that's not as hot.

When it comes, I tentatively give it a taste. It's good. The Diablo Salsa is light and delicious, but there's no heat. I'm sitting there waiting for the late onslaught of heat, pain and endorphins but it never arrives.

Years ago, during one of our paintball trips to win the Canadian National Stockgun Championship, we ate at a Mexican restaurant where we mindlessly ordered the Camarones Diablo. The heat was so intense and searing that I couldn't finish one shrimp. The pain was excruciating and the shame lives with me until today.

I was expecting that level of fire and pain from the chilaquiles but it just wasn't there. I asked Polly to try it. Nothing. Even my Mom, who cringes at the sight of Tabasco from a distance tasted it. Nothing. In fact, she really liked it. It wasn't just me. If my Mom could chow it down, there was no heat in this Diablo Salsa.

We asked our waitress if this indeed was the right order. She assured us it was. Stumped, I reflected back to a dinner we had in the summer at Thai Landing in Baltimore. We ordered some dishes "Thai Hot" just to prove we could but the owner stated up front that he doubted they could deliver because the chiles they had in stock just didn't have the heat. Their kitchen loaded up our dishes with the chiles but in the end, the heat never rose to uncomfortable levels. Tabasco would have been hotter that day.

And I suspect that's what happened with the Diablo Salsa on that day. Devoid of the fatal heat, the flavor was delicious. Mom loved it. It surprised me because I had made chilaquiles on a number of occasions and she never liked it before. Maybe it was too hot. Whatever the case, these chilaquiles were truly delicious with the right amount of crisp offset by the permeation of the salsa.

Moving onto our main courses, Polly had campaigned hard for me to try the Chicken Curry Pasta and I'm glad she did because it was damn good. And I do mean damn good. Rich, nutty tasting red curry on top of pasta with chicken - who would've thought? Oh, it was good. So good. It's thick. It's rich. Oh, heavenly. But there's never enough curry sauce. I had to ask for more. Some to finish the dish and the rest to drizzle over my body and absorb the tasty goodness through as many senses as possible.


Chilaquiles Diablo - tortilla chips pan sauteed in Diablo Salsa with queso seco, mozzarella, red onion, cilantro, guacamole and sour cream.

Polly went for the Ginger Salmon Salad, of which I had a bite (or two). It was good but I've been a bit fatigued with salmon over the past year so I find it hard to get enthusiastic about it.

Mom, swayed by my "suggestion", went with the Peanut Butter and Jelly Burger. It sounds odd. It sounds weird. It even sounds nasty but it's quite unbelievable. Peanut butter, strawberry jelly and a hamburger patty. You need to try it for yourself. Words fail. Sweet? Yes. Savory? Yes. Tasty? Oh yeah, baby.

The rest of our time at 26 Beach went by nicely. Our waitress took care of things and there were no more glitches in service. Sometimes you'd wonder just where she was - especially when I needed a side of the curry sauce, but it wasn't too long before she'd reappear.

Back out onto the parking lot, we were on our way to check out the bakeries of Abbott-Kinney and beyond.



26 Beach Restaurant
3100 Washington Boulevard
Venice, CA
310-823-7526
www.26beach.com

Los Angeles: Patisserie Chantilly

Ah Choux! - a selection of cream puffs for your gustatory pleasures.

After feasting for Thanksgiving, we're back on the streets again today to eat more. This time, Polly has taken us to a little Japanese pastry place called Patisserie Chantilly.

Over the years, I've come to love French Pastries. But, truth be told, there's always a sweet spot in my heart for Japanese-style French Pastries. Typically, they're good. Quite delicious. And while the French know how to indulge in the finer things in life, leave it to the Japanese to refine it slightly, add their own twist and present it in beautiful packaging.

While a simple sheet of wax paper might me enough for the Frenchman, the Japanese will have it giftwrapped - and that's just for lunch.


Parisian style Macarons a la Pierre Herme.

Patisserie Chantilly is a small, boutique kind of bakery. It's located in a strip shopping center in Lomita, a somewhat sleepy-looking part of Southern California. From the outside, it looks rather plain and innocuous. Inside, however, and you see what most people miss.

The decor is simple yet modern. Clean lines, bright finish and a cheery Japanese staff that makes you think that perhaps you've landed in Kanazawa instead of Lomita.


Caramel Macchiato - not Starbucks.

Hiding in the lighted bakery case is the reason we've trekked this far: Black Sesame Cream Puffs. A little baked Pate Choux, sliced and filled with creamy, buttery black sesame goodness. My Goodness, it looks quite nice!

Some of you might have heard of that imported Japanese phenomena called Beard Papa (not "Bearded Papa"), let me tell you now that these two are not one and the same, nor are they remotely similar - other than the fact they're both "cream puffs."

No, no, these are light, airy... "puffy." The black sesame cream is rich, buttery and well, kinda odd. I'm not used to the black sesame thing, but I can certainly see it going places. For me, it's relatively new and I'm liking it. Liking it enough that I'm tempted to order more en masse.


Mont Blanc a la Angelina.

The rest of Chantilly's offerings are just as good. There's Parisian Style Macarons, like you'd find at Pierre Herme except without the shiny satin finish Herme has mastered (along with the bazillion flavors they offer). I also spied the Mont Blanc - a pastry that I've only seen in one place (and the same place that made it famous): Angelina on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. I should have tried one here but didn't. Mainly because I didn't find the Mont Blanc at Angelina to be that earth-shattering.

There's also a selection of other fine pastries and baked goods, along with a selection of wrapped cookies and other delights.


Our cream puffs are offered for Final Inspection before being packaged.

Patisserie Chantilly offers some truly delicious stuff but it caters mainly to its' local, Japanese clientele. The staff all speak Japanese and most of the patrons were Japanese. If this were a white owned bakery in a hip part of L.A. it would be as famous as places like Magnolia or La Brea. But these guys crank it out for their loyal following, and the "in the know" gaijin who, reportedly, drive all across SoCal just to have their cream puffs.


Patisserie Chantilly
2383 Lomita Boulevard, Suite 10
Lomita, CA 90717
310-257-9454

Los Angeles: Thanksgiving

Pie shells cool while Dad does sudoku.

It's Thanksgiving in America. Our holiday to celebrate the bounty of the fall and the decimation of the native population. With that in mind, I have to wonder how Native Americans have come to view this national holiday. Is it seen as the joy of bounty that everyone else does? A day to kick back with family, friends and an overcooked turkey, or is it a reminder of a stolen nation that once was theirs?


Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce.


Yukon Gold Potatoes ready for mashing.

For this holiday, I'm at my brother's house in Hermosa Beach. The weather has been mild with a little bit of rain and we've spent the day shopping at places like Marukai, Von's, Sur La Table and Whole Foods for our supplies. Our Thanksgiving feasts are a mix of friends and their dishes. For our part here's what we're planning:

- Fried Turkey
- Homemade gravy
- Fried Duck
- Spiral Ham
- Stuffing
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Pumpkin Pie
- Leche Flan
- Roasted Bone Marrow
- Cranberry Sauce
- Banana Bread


Frying Turkey

Last year, Al and Polly lured me out to L.A. with my bullying them and our friends that "we must source everything local." Admittedly, I was almost tyrannical in my demands about the provenance of our food last year. Happily, our friends stood up to the challenge admirably. This year, I was a bit more relaxed about things.

After a big shopping excursion yesterday, a blizzard of cookery started today. So many items to prepare for dinner and such a small kitchen to prepare it in. I took up my post at "The Pass" and barked kitchen orders in German to my brother, sister-in-law and poor mother. Never let it be said that I'm easy to work with!


Fried Duck


Boneless Ham

While there was a lot to prepare, we methodically chopped our way through the list and kicked out what I'd like to think was some kick ass food for Thanksgiving. Al made his usual garlic mashed potatoes - a sinister blend of butter, cream and a mountain of garlic mashed with yukon gold potatoes. Aunt Josie had sent out her award-winning Banana Bread and Mom tried her hand making her leche flan in a new kitchen.

Things rolled smoothly and as dinner time approached, we kicked it into high gear. Three gallons of peanut oil to fry a five pound duck. The oil boiled angrily but promised delicious goodness from within.


Anna's Caesar Salad


A Tray of Stuffing

The beautiful thing about frying a duck is that you always get more than you bargained for. After the duck emerged from the oil fried crisp to golden goodness, the oil in the fryer had increased by about an inch. The fat in the duck had rendered out into the peanut oil and now our turkey would be fried with the delicious essence of duck fat. It was enough to make any food lover giddy with excitement.

At 350F, poultry will cook in three minutes (per pound). It would be a half hour before our turkey was ready. Time to raise the alert level upstairs.

Soon, our friends and family would gather around the table for another delicious meal.


Pumpkin Pies fresh out of the oven.


Mom's Leche Flan


Roasting Bone Marrow.


Al carves the Fried Turkey.


The Full Spread.