Christmas Tradition - Caramel Popcorn

Caramel corn is good any time of year, but a must at Christmas time.

The other day I was reflecting on our family holiday food traditions and, quite frankly, I felt like a failure. When our daughter, now 19, came into our lives, I decided to pay tribute to her Mexican roots by making and eating tamales on Christmas morning. I asked a Mexican family if I could join them for tamale making and found the process so labor intensive that I vowed that I would never make them on my own. It was just as well. As it turned out, I'm the only family member who likes tamales. I ate them alone on Christmas morning while thinking, "This tradition sucks."

I experimented with other traditional Christmas morning breakfasts, but hubby preferred his yogurt and cereal and Cynthia only cared about opening presents. Sigh. When Cynthia was little, we created and decorated houses from graham crackers, icing and candy, but never graduated to a more sophisticated gingerbread house. I experiment with new cookies every year, but haven't developed a traditional favorite.

Where did I go wrong? Just when I was about to throw in the food flag, Cynthia came to me and asked, "Mom, when are you going to make the caramel popcorn?"

Yes! We do have a tradition - the caramel popcorn that she and her friends devour by the bowlful. The caramel corn that I mix with nuts and give as gifts. Feeling like less of a failure, I found I had the three main ingredients - butter, sugar and light corn syrup - on hand and ran out to purchase the mixed nuts.

The Best (and Easiest) Ever Caramel Corn

2 quarts popped corn (I use microwave popcorn)
1 to 2 cups nuts (salted, roasted mixed nuts, any kind you like)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup light corn syrup

- Combine sugar, butter and corn syrup in large pot. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

- Continue boiling until light brown color (like the color of peanut butter), about 10 minutes.

- Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Mix in popcorn and nuts. (It's easiest to do this in the same container that you use to prepare the caramel.)

This is the perfect "peanut butter" color. Be careful. At this point, the candy goes from "just right" to "overcooked" in seconds. I ruined the first batch.

- Spread on cookie sheet. Let cool slightly and break into pieces. Store in air-tight container.

The popcorn on the left is the proper color. The batch on the right, slightly overcooked, looks good, but tastes bitter and burnt. It ended up in the trash can.

It seems that I always overcook the first batch. It's part of my holiday tradition.

Nomo Ate Here - Udon at Sanuki No Sato

Since I'm a Hapa Hillbilly (half Japanese, half Scottish from West Virginia), I'm frequently asked two questions. "Where do I go for good Japanese food?" and "Where can I find some decent biscuits and gravy?" (Well, actually, nobody in California has ever asked for a b&g recommendation, but I'm ready for them.)

Alas, I can't recommend any Japanese restaurants in Pasadena. Most, like the ever-popular but mediocre Kabuki, seem more Japanesque than Japanese. For the real thing, I like to head to the South Bay. This area has a large Japanese American population in Torrance and Gardena and a thriving Japanese national segment because several major Japanese corporations (Toyota, Honda, Epson) have American headquarters in Torrance.

My japanese American friend Carol introduced me to Sanuki No Sato in Gardena about 15 years ago. We went to the show/sale of a Japanese American silver jeweler twice a year in Torrance, but the show was just a thinly veiled excuse to head to Sanuki for a steaming bowl of chubby udon noodles.

Carol always drove to the corner restaurant in a Gardena mini mall. It wasn't until years later that I realized that most of the signage was in Japanese. You have to look hard to find the small, unobtrusive sign in English.

A trio of oversized "Sanuki No Sato" signs are in Japanese, but only one small, easy-to-miss sign is in English.

Yesterday I justified the long drive for lunch at Sanuki because I needed to purchase osembe (Japanese rice crackers) at the Mitsuwa Market in Torrance for my dad's Christmas package. They have the best, daddy-pleasing selection and, believe it or not, you still can't find a decent rice cracker in Ravenswood, West Virginia.

Giant Japanese paper lanterns, Christmas lights and . . . Spider Man decorate the restaurant.

Mitsuwa is a 45-minute drive from Altadena, but Sanuki is just another five minutes down the street. I ordered the Nabeyaki, a rustic iron pot filled with perfect udon noodles and topped with shrimp tempura, soft poached egg, chicken, fish cake, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed, and sansai vegetables (such as bamboo shoots).

I think my Japanese cooking class has taught me to appreciate this restaurant and this dish more than ever. The soup base was a rich dashi stock with a touch of soy sauce. And as soon as I bit into the vegetables, I recognized that they had been cooked in dashi, then soy sauce and sugar, like the onishime vegetables we prepared in class. After one bite, you're likely to yell out, "Oh, mama," or at least "umami," the rich, elusive "fifth taste" that's found in many Japanese foods.

With a glass of ice cold Sapporo draft beer, this lunch was the perfect antidote to holiday fatigue.

Vegetables, shrimp tempura, fish cakes and egg top the steaming pot of udon.

Jonathan Gold has consistently included Sanuki No Sato on his annual list of "Essential LA Restaurants." And Hideo Nomo, the popular pitcher for the Dodgers, was/is a regular when he's in town. But I don't think it shows that you're trendy or hip if you eat at Sanuki No Sato. It just shows good taste for traditional Japanese food. And once you've had it, you may never want to go back to Kabuki again.

Sanuki No Sato

18206 S. Western Ave.

Gardena, CA 90248

(310) 324-9184

Winter Delight Salad - Pears, Candied Pecans & Blue Cheese Make This a Winner

Winter Delight Salad - elegant enough for the Limoges china, popular enough for a potluck.

If you're looking for a winter salad that's both bold and beautiful, simple and satisfying, look no further.

We developed this salad when I was the chair of the salad section of the Huntington Garden's herb cookbook, a Celebration of Herbs. (Believe it or not, arugula, the green used in this salad, is considered an herb.) Even though this recipe didn't make it into the book, it's become my "signature salad" - the one I'm most often asked to bring to potlucks. "Can you bring that salad you do? The one with the candied pecans?" friends often ask.

What makes this a "winter delight salad"? Pears are hard and bland when out of season, but a delight in winter, when the fruit is ripe and sweet. The pairing of sweet and sour, crunchy and soft, peppery and pungent make this winter salad even more delightful.

Winter Delight Salad

1 bag baby arugula greens
2 tart apples, such as Granny Smith, thinly sliced
2 pears, thinly sliced
1/4 C. candied walnuts or pecans
1/2 C. gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Dressing:

1/3 C. balsamic vinegar
1/2 C. virgin olive oil
1 t. lemon juice
1 minced shallot
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Blend together all ingredients.

Candied Pecans

I've experimented with at least a half dozen recipes for candied pecans (with or without butter, with or without egg whites, brown or white sugar, on the stove top or in the oven, with a variety of liquids) and I think this one is the easiest and best.

1 1/2 cups toasted pecans
1/2 cup liquid (I like to use brandy)
1 cup brown sugar

- Toast pecans in a dry, non-stick fry pan, being careful not to burn.
- Add brandy and sugar and stir.
- Keep stirring until liquid evaporates and turns into a glaze on the pecans.
- Dump pecans in a single layer on a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Use candied pecans as a snack, in salads, as a vegetable topping (especially good with sweet potatoes, squash or pumpkin) or as a topping on desserts, such as ice cream or baked pears.

Something old, someting new: Vintage Limoges china is from the Pasadena City College Flea Market. Vintage linen napkins are from a Chicago yard sale. Gold double-satin ribbon on napkins is from e-bay.

The dinner party was a great success, even though I forgot about the sweet potato, butternut squash gratin (from Pinch My Salt) that I'd popped into the broiler for browning. By the time the smoke was wafting from the broiler, the golden brown gruyere cheese had turned coal black. I pulled off the charred layer and it was still a hit. Is it any wonder why friends ask me to bring the salad to potlucks?

Ojai Adventure - Suzanne's Cuisine

The patio garden at Suzanne's Cuisine in Ojai

With gas prices low and my spirits high, I decided to take a day trip to Ojai for lunch with a friend.

She suggested that we make a reservation on the garden patio at Suzanne's Cuisine. As soon as I walked onto the back patio, I felt like I was a world, not two hours, away from Los Angeles. We were seated next to a lovely garden with a burbling fountain and hovering hummingbird. It was like being invited for lunch at a friend's house - a friend who loves to garden and cook and has an eye for details.

The bread was crusty and warm and the presentation of the butter with a flat parsley leaf delightful. There was just one problem. My salad Nicoise (unlike the one I prepared a few days later for the trespassers picnic) was a disappointment. The rare Ahi tuna and the dressing were bland and there were just a few small potatoes hidden under the abundance of greens. No green beans, no eggs, no capers, no flavor. I even did the unthinkable and sprinkled salt on my tuna.

Suzanne's Cuisine has an eye for beauty and details.

Ordinarily, I like to blather on about these things, but, for once, I silenced my inner food critic and instead focused on the good bread, the garden, the hummingbird and the sparkling two and a half hour conversation with my friend.

Flagstone pavers and a water pump - just like the one at Grandma Opal's - add character to the garden.

And, yes, I'd go back to Suzanne's in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact, looking at these pictures makes me long to hop in the car and drive there NOW. The other food on the menu, including the chicken chilli and vegetarian sandwich my friend ordered, looked delicious. I just won't order another salad Nicoise.

Suzanne's Cuisine
502 W Ojai Ave
Ojai, CA 93023
(805) 640-1961

Other Suggestions for an Ojai Day Trip or Weekend

Casa Barranca: A stunning Greene & Greene Craftsman house, plus a winery and yoga studio, with views of the entire valley. Owner Bill Moses makes fine Viognier and Syrah and a delicate, Burgundian-style Pinot Noir, all fermented with wild yeasts (he believes in minimal intervention). The winery is not open to the public, but tastings (from $4) are scheduled Wed–Sun at Firehouse Pottery & Gallery, 109 S. Montgomery St.; www.casabarranca.com; 805/646-9453. (From Sunset Magazine, 4-07)
(Susan's two cents: Architecture, yoga wine and views all in the same spot? Sign me up.)

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa Loll in Moroccan splendor as you choose your treatment, perhaps the grapefruit body scrub. INFO: Open to day guests Mon–Fri; treatments from $50, plus $20 nonguest fee; 905 Country Club Rd.; 800/422-6524. (From Sunset Magazine, 1-08)
(Susan's two cents: This is the super-pricy resorted that recently underwent a $90 million renovation. I think $70 is a fairly reasonable price to get my foot in the door of the sauna.)

The venerable Oaks at Ojai destination spa (from $180, including classes and meals; minimum two-night stay required; 805/646-5573) offers a long roster of classes and fitness activities as well as treatments and theme packages, and serves three low-fat spa meals and snacks a day. Men are welcome but rare; the clientele for its 46 guest rooms is mostly women. (From Sunset Magazine, 1-08)
(Susan's two cents: This is one of the best deals in Southern California. My friend Karen went with her rare-breed husband and had a memorable weekend.)

RTK Studios: A craftsman bungalow is the home of this tile workshop that specilizes in reproduciton tiles of Spanish, Craftsman and art deco designs. The studio is open by appointment only. The website says, "As artisans steeped in the tile making traditions of a bygone era, we bring the old-world craft of the legendary Malibu and Catalina tileworks back to life." Their work can be found at many of the Spanish-Mission architectural gems around town, including the colonnade leading into Libby Park. (Condensed from Ojai Pages by pigletsmom)

Australian Plants Nursery: Altadena Hiker recommends this nursery that specializes in "ornamental trees and shrubs for Mediterranean gardens."

My friend Debbi recommends The Ranch House, another beautiful restaurant surrounded by herbs and flowers.

Autumn Picnic - Featuring Salad Nicoise

Vibrant colors, a variety of textures and rich, briny flavors make this salad Nicoise one of my favorites.

If you're wrapped in an afghan and shivering in the cold or watching snow flurries or cursing the thought of your next budget-breaking gas bill, then you may not be able to imagine a late-November picnic with temperatures in the 70's.

It's been so unseasonably warm here in Southern California, that I had to change both the site and menu for our al fresco autumn meal. We abandoned the "top of the world" location with no shade and settled on a tree-lined site in the lowlands. And I gave up on the idea of a hearty beef stew in favor of heat-friendly salad Nicoise.

It's beginning to look a lot like autumn - finally.

And, of course, this wasn't just any picnic. It was another trespassers picnic, where crossing the line is part of the fun. My motto is the food always tastes better when you're being just a little bit naughty.

There seem to be as many opinions about the components of a proper salad Nicoise as there are opinions about getting us out of this financial crisis. Should the tuna be packed in oil or water? White or dark meat? What about the restaurant trend of serving rare ahi tuna? Should tomatoes be included? What about anchovies or capers? Are greens included in a proper salad Nicoise? This is one controversial salad.

In an effort to please almost everyone, I included both a water-packed albacore tuna and an oil-drenched Italian variety, both already on my pantry shelf. I added tomatoes for color, even though they are close to tasteless this time of year. And I left out the greens due to forgetfulness (I left them behind in the refrigerator), not for a desire to be authentic.

This recipe is adapted from the one posted by Tea and Cookies, who modified the recipe from the Silver Palate cookbook.

All mixed up - not as pretty, but just as yummy. It's better (and prettier) to add the eggs after tossing and then drizzle the dressing on top of the eggs.

Salad Nicoise (Pronounced "nee-SWAHZ")

8 small red potatoes, cooked in salted water until tender but not mushy
2 lbs green beans, trimmed, blanched in boiling water until bright green but still crispy
4 small ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Nicoise olives
pinch of salt
1 tsp pepper
3/4 cup dressing (recipes follows)
6 hard boiled eggs, quartered
12 oz oil packed tuna
2 oz anchovy fillets

Assemble all ingredients, except eggs, tuna and anchovies, in a large bowl or on a serving platter. Toss With dressing. Arrange eggs, tuna and anchovies on plate or platter and drizzle with dressing.

Dressing:
1 tbs dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or champagne vinegar)
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1 small shallot, minced

(I've experimented with lots of different dressings for salad Nicoise, and this was the best complement by far.)

Put the mustard, vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper into a small jar and shake. Mix in the parsley and shallot.

Enjoy this classic dish in a serene, pastoral setting, preferably without the humming of leaf blowers and the din of trash trucks.

La Menu

Tuscan white bean dip with blue corn chips
Pomme frites
Salad Nicoise
French baguette
Fresh berries with cassis liquer and orange zest
Red and white wine
Lemonade

Gratitude and Giving - The Last Bamboo Leaf

Triangles of sticky rice and red beans perfectly wrapped in bamboo leaves make me grateful.

I reluctantly unwrapped the last leaf from the sticky rice yesterday. I say reluctantly because they were so beautiful that I just wanted to gaze at their artistry. The bamboo leaves were pulled taut and smooth with a top knot as a finishing touch. Do you see that knot? How does someone go about pushing a bamboo thread through sticky rice? Unwrapping one of the little treasures was like undraping an obi from a geisha (or so I imagine).

These were a gift from a family in Arcadia. The grandmother prepared them for me to show her gratitude for the persimmons they picked from our yard. I'm grateful for the time, talent and . . . . . gratitude that went into creating them.

Every time I looked at them I was reminded of the circle of gratitude.

Not just beautiful - they tasted pretty darn good too.

This post also appears at Cancer Banter.

Baa Baa Gold Sheep

Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential LA Restaurants list appears in last week's issue of LA Weekly, and I, like a docile little lamb, must follow wherever shepherd Gold leads.

Gold proves that, yes, Virginia, there is life beyond Melrose Ave and the Westside. He features three Eagle Rock and 10 San Gabriel Valley restaurants and even recommends spots in Bell and Norwalk, two cities known more for graffitti than gastronomy. I've included excerpts from Gold, along with my own humble opinions about these "essential" places near our neck of the woods.

(Baa Baa: I will follow.
Waa Waa: I may stray from the recommendation.)

Babita
1823 South San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel
(626) 288-7625

What he says: It may serve Guadalupe Valley Syrah instaed of margaritas, and chiles en nogada instead of nacho plates, but Babita is a relaxed corner Mexican place with great food, an Eastside joint whose service is burnished to a white-tablecloth sheen.

What I say: My friend MM, who's been frequenting Babita for years, introduced me a couple years ago, and I felt like I'd joined a secret club. Who knew that this little joint with tacky decor on the wrong side of the tracks in San Gabriel was pumping out sophisticated Mexican food. Chef/owner Roberto is charming and, if you play your cards right, you may get an invitation to one of his private wine pairing dinners.

Bulgarini Gelatino
749 Altadena Drive
Altadena
(626) 441-3319

What he says: The gelateria, the love child of Rome ex-pat Bulgarini and his Altadena-born wife Elizabeth Foldi, is a singular perfect blossom in a world of international sweets conglomerates and by-the-book mixes: fragrant Sicilian pistachio gelato, vivid blood orange sorbetto, subtle cinnamon cream and dark, smoky chocolate gelati flavored with orange peel, with fresh hazelnuts or with rum. And Leo probably pulls the best espresso shot in the San Gabriel Valley when he’s in the mood, a thick, syrupy thimbleful made with an antique Italian machine. If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.

What I say: Lucky me! Bulgarini is less than one mile from my house. If I've been very, very good, I'll treat myself to a walk after dinner and one of my favorites: orange chocolate gelato, blood orange sorbetto or lemon vanilla gelato. I'd like to order the Gold-recommended shot of espresso, but I rarely see Leo in the shop.

Casa Bianca
1650 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 256-9617

What he says: Casa Bianca, the fiefdom of the Martorana family since 1955, serves the best neighborhood-pizzeria pizza in L.A. The sausage is homemade, but the mushrooms on the pizza are canned, old-school style, if that sort of thing bothers you.

What I say: This is my favorite pizza in LA, and I love to order it cut into funky little squares. There's just one problem: getting the box of pizza pie home intact. Oh, me of little self discipline. The only way to return home with a whole pizza is to transport it in the hatch of my Prius. It's also fun to avoid temptation by eating in at a table with a red checked cloth and a carafe of cheap red wine. Just be prepared to wait for at least half an hour for one of those checkered tables or a booth.

Chang's Garden
627 West Duarte Road
Arcadia
(626) 445-0606

What he says: An elegant Hangzhou-­influenced restaurant headed by chef Henry Chang, whose restrained, earthy style became known to the local Chinese community at the old Juon Yuan in San Gabriel Square, Chang’s Garden is well known both for its version of dong po pork, a dish favored by Chinese poets, and for the cooking’s congeniality to wine.

What I say: Sounds good. Let's go. Baa. Baa.

Chung King
1000 S. San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel
(626) 286-0298

What he says: Chung King is still the best place in the San Gabriel Valley to taste Sichuan cooking: sizzling with four or five different kinds of chiles, vibrating with the flavors of extreme fermentation and smacked with the cooling, numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns, lies halfway between dentist’s-chair Novocain and the last time you could afford a lot of blow, food that leaves you exhausted, narcotized and happy, drenched in foul, garlic-laced sweat.

What I say: I tried it, but think we must have ordered the wrong dishes. I need to go back, especially since Wandering Chopsticks lists this as one of her favorites.

El Huarache Azteca
5225 York Blvd.
Highland Park
(323) 478-9572

What he says: In Mexico City restaurants like El Huarache Azteca may be thick on the ground, but in Highland Park, there is nothing like it on a Saturday afternoon, a cramped storefront filled with families guzzling house-made horchata, tepache and watermelon drink out of huge foam cups, hovering over the few oilcloth-covered tables inside, gathering tacos and sopes by the dozen to bring home to their families, and coaxing burning-hot huitlacoche quesadillas — fried turnovers stuffed with musky, jet-black corn fungus — out of the stone-faced woman who mans the fry cart outside the entrance. What you have come for is, of course, the huarache, a flat, concave trough of fried masa mounded with beans, cultured cream and meat.

What I say: Doesn't this sound lovely? Let's go. Baa Baa.

Elite
700 S. Atlantic Blvd.
Monterey Park
(626) 282-9998

What he says: The roast squab has skin as delicately crunchy as any Beijing duck. The Shunde-style soup of seafood with minced ham and bits of bitter melon is as tautly balanced as the exhaust note of a Lamborghini. The balls of chopped shrimp steamed in nets of shredded turnip and garnished with their own roe —s the essence of the sea captured. And the morning dim sum breakfasts, ordered from menus instead of carts, are divine.

What I say: Have any of you tried Elite? Gold's review doesn't tantalize me, even though it made the essential list. Waa Waa

Euro Pane
950 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 577-1828

What he says: Sumi Chang’s bakery may be the center of civilized life in Pasadena: a place to buy excellent-to-superb scones and baguettes and pains au chocolat, of course, but also the heart of a certain sort of society, the Caltech professors, theology students and writers who worship at the twin altars of caffeine and conversation, a place where you are likely to bump into a zillion-dollar chef, a man who helped design the Mars rover, or the star of the play you saw last night at the Ahmanson. On a good day, Euro Pane’s magnificent croissants could be mistaken for France’s best in a police lineup, and, the natural-starter sourdough is superb. Toss in the homemade granola, the epochal bread pudding, the rustic fruit tarts and the gooiest egg-salad sandwich in town, and it’s no wonder that Europane’s regulars treat the bakery more as a permanent residence than as a café.

What I say: I mainly go for the tarragon chicken salad on rosemary currant bread or the rustic fruit tarts, but I have been known to "worship at the twin altars of caffeine and conversation."

Golden Deli
815 W. Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel
(626) 308-0803

What he says: Golden Deli, you may not need to be told, is one of the best Vietnamese noodle shops in Southern California, a well-worn citadel of banh hoi and pho in a busy San Gabriel mini-mall, a restaurant so popular that its customers wait up to an hour for a spot at one of the sticky, cramped tables. Golden Deli has the best cha gio, fried Vietnamese spring rolls, in the observable universe, and the owners know it. And after a bite or two, so will you.

What I say: When I was a 3-week guest at Hotel Hope, visions of spring rolls danced in my head. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into those crunchy, chewy egg rolls, swathed in Romaine lettuce, filled with fresh herbs and dipped in fish sauce. I've tried other fried Vietnamese spring rolls, but none of them compare to the golden rolls at Golden Deli.

Golden Triangle
7011 S. Greenleaf Ave.
Whittier
(562) 945-6778

What he says: Golden Triangle may be the best place in California to taste Burmese food, a phantasmagoria of a cuisine that draws from the cooking of nearby India, China, Thailand and Laos — the country is in a pretty good neighborhood. The restaurant specializes in the garbanzo-flour-thickened catfish chowder called moh hin gha, the biryani-style rice dish called dun buk htaminh, and lap pad thoke, a salad made with pickled tea leaves that have the consistency of stewed collard greens and the caffeine kick of a double espresso, and also in a sour vegetable dish made with a special Burmese green that the owner grows in his backyard.

What I say: I don't think I've ever had Burmese food (never made it to the Rangoon Racuet Club in BH in the 80s), but this sounds intriguing. Let's go to Whittier. Baa Baa

La Casita Mexicana
4030 E. Gage Ave.
Bell
(323) 773-1898

What he says: When you sit down at La Casita, the spiritual home of Mexican cooking in Los Angeles at the moment, you are brought a basket of warm chips drizzled with jet-black mole poblano, a chile-laced red pepian and a green pepian made from crushed pumpkin seeds: the dense, complexly sweet mother sauces that are at the heart of La Casita’s cooking. Chefs Jaime Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu are everywhere if you follow Spanish-language media, demonstrating recipes on the Univision morning show, opening supermarkets, on billboards advertising Mexican avocados. They dominate the food pages of La Opinión, and no local discussion of mole poblano, nopalitos or chilaquiles is complete until they have had their say.

The two haunt communal farms, looking for huazontle, hoja santa and nopales as fresh and beautiful as they might be in the Jalisco villages they grew up in. But mostly there is the cooking: a half-dozen different kinds of chilaquiles at breakfast, a beautiful purple-corn pozole, delicious enfrijoladas, and an impeccable version of chiles en nogada, the most famous dish of haute Mexican cuisine.

What I say: Where the hell is Bell? I know that's what you're thinking. Believe me, if ever there was a reason to find out, this restaurant is it. Gold does not exaggerate. The setting and prices are modest, but the food like nothing you've ever tasted before in a Mexican restaurant.

Larkin's
1496 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 254-0934
www.larkinsjoint.com.

What he says: Every dish on the menu is probably somebody’s best recipe: The tart, creamy potato salad is credited to Aunt Carolyn; the ground-beef-intensive chile verde to chef Mackey’s grandpa; the caramelly-tasting banana pudding to Mama. But one thing is beyond argument: Mackey’s fried chicken, tender-crusted and juicy, golden and singing with the taste of clean oil, is about as good as it gets in Los Angeles restaurants.

What I say: One of my favorite places for lunch, happy hour or dinner. Charming setting in a converted craftsman home, friendly wait staff and, oh, mama, that wonderful fried chicken.


Oinkster
2005 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 255-OINK
www.oinkster.com

What he says: "Slow fast food,” proclaims the sign outside: smoky Carolina-style pulled-pork sandwiches, chopped salad, and fast-food-style Angus-beef hamburgers with sweet house-made catsup. He roasts chickens on a creaky rotisserie and smokes his own pastrami. Would you be willing to pay a couple dollars extra to experience artisanal soda pop, purplish Fosselman’s-based ube milkshakes and other fast food with a chefly edge? Guerrero is betting that you are. With all of the above, of course, it is necessary to have an order of Belgian fries, fried twice to leave them light and hot, their fluffy potato essence encased in a stiff, perfectly golden capsule of crunch.

What I say: I found this place good but a far cry from essential. Should I give it one more try? Waa Waa

101 Noodle Express
1408 E. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra
(626) 300-8654

What he says: A bleak mini-mall storefront next to a bowling alley, 101 Noodle Express isn’t undiscovered, exactly, although in all my visits I have never had a waitress say a word to me in English that didn’t happen to be “7-up” or “Coca-Cola.” Everybody orders a lovely if orthodox bowl of hot-sour soup, and a tan, wrinkly specialty called “De Zhou chicken.” But mostly, the café is home to the Shandong-style beef roll, a massive, bronzed construction that commands its platter like two El Tepeyac burritos laid side by side — brawny Chinese pancakes rolled around slivers of stewed beef and seasoned with a sprinkling of chopped scallion tops and fresh cilantro.

The inside of the beef roll is smeared with a sweet, house-made bean paste with an ethereal, almost transparent top note, a bean paste that bears the same relationship to ordinary hoisin sauce that a fine demi-glace might to a slug of canned brown gravy. It is a simple composition, and yet not — ordinary street food raised to a transcendent level.

What I say: This is my kind of food - "ordinary street food raised to a transcendent level." I gotta' go. Baa Baa

Pie 'N Burger

913 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 795-1123

What he says: This is the best neighborhood hamburger joint in a neighborhood that includes Caltech, which means the guy next to you may be reading a physics proof over his chili size as if it were the morning paper. When compressed by the act of eating, a Pie ‘N Burger hamburger leaks thick, pink dressing, and the slice of American cheese, if you have ordered a cheeseburger, does not melt into the patty, but stands glossily aloof. And the exquisitely crunchy patty melt is careful without being insipid, oozy in just the right way, and sweetened by its judicious load of grilled onions When the fruit is in season, don’t miss a cut of the epochal fresh-strawberry pie.

What I say: I've never understood Gold's obsession with Pie 'N Burger. I like the homy setting, the chatty waitresses, the thick milkshakes and the pies. But the burger patties are tasteless and credit-card thin, the French fries fat and wobbly and the prices inflated. He does make that patty melt sound good.

Renu Nakorn
13019 E. Rosecrans Ave., Suite 105
Norwalk
(562) 921-2124

What he says: While the expense-account crowd awaited each new overhyped East Coast import this year, the Thai-food cognoscenti paced anxiously outside a gentrifying Norwalk mini-mall instead, worrying as the structure rose to resemble a series of potential GameStops. But finally, after larb-less months of anticipation, the redone Renu Nakorn is modern and spacious, and filled with Breck girls from the local Bible college, as well as Thai folk happy to be reacquainted with the restaurant’s minced-shrimp larb and sour Isaan rice sausage.

If you ever went to the original Renu Nakorn (or to the fabulous Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas, which is run by family that owned the restaurant in the 1990s), you probably know the tripartite nature of the menu, the usual Thai specialties supplemented by the barbecue and spicy grilled-meat salads of the Isaan region, and an almost-hidden list of specialties from the Chiang Mai area, which may be the kitchen’s real strength: pounded roast-chile dips to scoop up with freshly fried pork rinds, sweet pork curries influenced by Burma and coconut-enhanced khao soi noodles. After dinner, you can wander next door to the last working dairy in Norwalk and pick up a load of free cow manure, or better, a quart of the excellent chocolate milk.

What I say: When I first came to Califoria in 1976, I taught at a private school in South Gate, but many of my students came from nearby Norwalk. Since then, I've had no reason to return to this somewhat desolate area of So. Cal. Until now. Who wants to go on a field trip for Thai food and chocolate mik from a working dairy? Baa Baa.