‘Restaurants’
The Valley is a weird place. Seriously. Despite having worked there for more than two years, I had no idea that there was a section of Van Nuys that felt like being transported to downtown LA. Yet, to grab some Peruvian at Puro Sabor, I found myself in said section. It was definitely weird, but usually the strangest parts of town have the best food. I hoped this would be the case.
One of our guides in Cape Town remarked at how great The Waterfront was and wondered why anyone would leave it. There was certainly something to what he said, and in our continued, easy search for meals, we found ourselves at Mitchell’s Scottish Ale House. Now, I’ve never been to a British resort town, now do I know if such a thing exists, but if I had to picture a microbrewery in such a quintessential town, Mitchell’s would be it. The atmosphere was festive, yet subdued. The beers covered a wide range and the best-looking food was…well…curry.
I’m always up for interesting food combinations. Usually this means mixing meats into wonderful protein concoction, but at Mercato di Vetro in West Hollywood, I was introduced to an especially unique mix of foods. But before I settled on my meal, I got myself a nice look at the entire menu. Menu items were purported to be “small plates,” but carried price tags that said otherwise. Even though I wasn’t paying, I shifted my eyes to food that I could expect to actually fill my stomach with.
On our first night in Cape Town, we took a stroll around the Waterfront to see what it had to offer. The answer was pretty much anything. So, like anyone in the mood for anything, we decided to park our booties at a spot called Den Anker. Purporting to offer Belgian food, the menu had some dishes I had never seen before and I started off with a Belgian beer to lubricate my senses.
As New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world, I expect every meal I eat there to give me a heart attack when I see the bill. When this is not the case, I am overjoyed. With those thoughts running through my head, I found myself at Landmarc in TriBeCa for dinner with a bunch of friends. The majority of the menu intrigued me, but seemed a tad pricey. That’s when I saw the Landmarc Hamburger.
There is a certain awesome feeling that comes with flying thousands of miles and arriving in a place with the food comforts of home. Such is The Waterfront of Cape Town. The place has just about every type of food imaginable, and on our first day we made our way to Ferrymans for a drink and a bite.
Guys, I’ll admit it. I’m a Chinese food snob. But I like to think you would be if you once lived there too. For that reason I’m glad I live in LA, but sad that I live on the west side, about half a light-year from the real Chinese food in San Gabriel. That all changed, however, when ROC Kitchen opened up in the area I like to call Little Little Tokyo, but is fast becoming Little Asia with an influx of other Asian food like ROC Kitchen.
When the Culver City outpost of Famima!! shuttered, I lamented the loss. It was one of those places that I didn’t get to very often, but always felt comfortable knowing it was there. Then I found out that it was to be replaced by Smashburger, a fast-casual burger chain out of Denver that specializes in smashing balls of beef into burgers as they cook, instead of getting them patty-ized beforehand. The premise isn’t entirely novel, but that did not mean I wasn’t excited.
It might not quite be new anymore, but Public School 310 in Culver City isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With its novelty school theme, beer menu and interesting food menu, it is a place I definitely had to check out. So check it out I did, with a huge group that gave me the opportunity me sample a bit more than I usually would. This was certainly going to be a change from the food used to eat growing up in public schools.
For a strange little town south of Los Angeles, Gardena packs a surprisingly diverse amount of food. Contributing to this diversity is a Peruvian place called El Rocoto. Its menu is vast and although neither alpaca or guinea pig are anywhere to be found on it, I had no trouble finding delicious-looking things to eat. But before ordering, the waiter brought us out a nice bread basket with their namesake sauce and another one to eat with the bread. It was an interesting mix, but I definitely enjoyed the sauces.