February 1, 2007 2

Canelé (Atwater Village)

//// By in 05: Silver Lake + Echo Park

We went with a friend to this newly opened (re-opened?) restaurant Canele at Atwater Village. At 8 on a Friday night, it’s completely full and very very crowded. Looks like a good hang out spot for the local hipsters.

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Pommes Anna, very oily but also delicious~ My friend is a vegetarian so she ordered the omlette and the light (but oily) pasta.

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Joan got the Boeuf Bourgignon with Buttered noodles very tender beef and the noodle gave a very nice buttery aroma.

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Herb roasted leg of Lamb with Braised Endive, Grapefruits and Tapena. This whole dish is DELICIOUS! The lamb is so tenderly roasted with herb and pepper flavor, the grapefruits added a suprisingly sweet and sour touch. The israeli couscous are smooth and chewy, very addictive to eat. I enjoyed the plate very much, though every bite is mouthful of oil. Everything is soaked in oil. The amount of oil they use in their dishes is a bit scary…^^;;

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Flan is good! When we left, a waitress at the door handed us these little French pastry…called Canelé! (we remembered well because we talked about it on seat’s blog). So good, so crispy and firm texture~ Oh I hope there’d be a canelé boom in LA soon…?

Canelé (no reservation)
3219 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90039

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January 27, 2007 5

Opus Restaurant (Wilshire)

//// By in 07: Mid-Wilshire

I’ve heard much of about the renewed Opus Restaurant (formerly a bar and grilled, it’s now under new management and chef) and their moderate priced multiple courses tasting menu. My friend and I went to try their new Tuesday Baco Night (available at bar side only).

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We asked for wine tasting. The chef has just painstakingly redo the wine list that is arranged by taste rather than type (beginner friendly!) The tasty Amuse Bouche we got are made with celery root puree, yam on top layer, cypress seed on top (looked like caviar but it’s all crispy), paired with a sweet Brachetto wine.

According to the chef whom we chat with at the bar, Baco is his self invented term for gourmet taco he used to made for fun after work with the kitchen staffs back in his old restaurant. They are very big, $8 each. Two of us shared everything.

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The original baco: Pork Belly, Short Rib Carnitas Baco. The pork belly are fried and crispy, with very fresh tasting tomato on top. I even love the roasted almonds! Very delicious! It’s my favorite one.

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Lamb and Chorizo Baco with crushed yams, the heavy meaty one.

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Tofu baco, potato, garlic-chive dressing, we didn’t order this but the chef insist us trying (so he cooked us it without charge). Fish Baco, Pickled Cabbage, Mint Onions. The vastly different multi-flavors and textures of these baco are so enjoyable.

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DSC02974.jpgAll the wine we tasted for the night. 😀 We got pretty big pour almost every glass. I was quite drunk by the end. Good food and good wine, what a fun night~ I can’t wait to do more Baco night. But the next thing I’d try are their $30 3 courses menu.

The chef also told us he re-did the regular menu as well (a fuller and more well rounded menu).

Opus Restaurant 213.738.1600
(Baco is available on Tuesday only)
3760 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010

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January 25, 2007 5

Patisserie Chantilly (Lomita)

//// By in 17: South Bay

Right next to Gaja Moc is a cute Japanese pastry shop called Patisserie Chantilly, no matter how full we got, we had to go inside to check this out.

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Of all the mini (smaller than usual even for Japanese size!) cakes, we got the two ‘recommended’ ones: Kir Royale (a bit sour for my taste but airy and smooth) and Sesame Mousse (incredible: so smooth with creamy and rich sesame flavor).

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The coffee is great too. Interior is clean and chic though the plastic chairs looked a bit flighty and toy-ish. Later I looked up this place and it was reviewed in LA Weekly that their ‘cream puffs are art’. Darn miss it. I gotta go back to try!

Patisserie Chantilly (310) 257-9454
2383 Lomita Blvd. Lomita, CA 90717

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January 25, 2007 2

Gaja Moc Restaurant (Lomita)

//// By in 17: South Bay

A few entries back we went to this Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancakes) called Gaja Moc . I saw a sign posted on the wall that saids “we’re a different restaurant during day time.” At night, they’re a Do-It-Yourself Japanese pancake place, but at lunch they’re a Youshoku (Japanese style Western food) place. The lunch menu has lots of set lunch and Japanese style comfort food.

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Carbonara Soup Pasta with Tororo Rice Bowl. Tororo is grated yam that has slimy texture. The Carbonara sauce and bacon fit susprisingly in a soup form, like an egg soup with sweet onion flavor. Very good!

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You can also ordered Three mini okonomiyaki set they cooked inside kitchen for you. The three we had are Sausage, Shrimp and Mentaiko. Very satisfied!

Gaja Moc Restaurant (310)534-0153
2383 Lomita Blvd. #102, Lomita, CA 90717

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January 24, 2007 Off

Cafe Metropol (Downtown LA)

//// By in 06: Downtown LA

DSC02913.jpgRight across from the Architecture design school SCI-Arc, there lies Cafe Metropol in the Artist District at Downtown LA. It’s probably hard to notice it if you don’t attend/work at SCI-Arc nor live at those Artist lofts around there since it’s a bit tricky to get there. (Tips: turn onto 2nd st from Alameda, followed a curve and then turn left onto the hard-to-get-into 3rd street). Love the lofty brick-wall interior. The menu offers a wide range of salad, soup, burger, sandwich, panina, pastas and pizzas. There was a live jazz band performing at the other side of the restaurant, great ambiance.

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Carbornara with proscuitto and speck, good! The sauce is richly flavored and smell wonderful.

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A side salad (love the sweet sesame dressing) with Portebello mushroom and red pepper burger. The burger is a bit oily and there’s not much flavor. The ingredients are fresh though.

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The Cannoli is cold and stale. Tiramisu is pretty good. Based on these two desserts I guess they came from somewhere else and not freshly made?

DSC02907.jpgThere’re cool graffiti all over the building next to the cafe. There were two photographers taking pictures of them so I can’t help to take a snap as well.

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