Edendale: There is Food There Too.

Edendale Grill
2838 Rowena Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039 (323) 666-2000

www.edendalegrill.com

So incensed was I at the hipster take over of the Edendale that I forgot all about what we ate! And perhaps not to bad effect. One never goes to the Edendale for the food.

With some of our favorite people in town from Lake Havasu, ex-Silverlakers, we wanted to stick close to the neighborhood and eat somewhere relaxed, so we headed for the patio at Edendale Grill. Hands down, best outside eating area on the east side, maybe in all of LA.


I have done 5 hour Sunday brunches, closed down the bar more nights than I can count, Mothers' Day, birthdays, and so on into infinity. A balmy fall evening is one of my favorite times here. The atmosphere is somehow magical. No one is hurrying you to leave the table, the service is decent even if the food is suspect.


I love the lights, the trees, the fact that you will drive past the restaurant 5 times and still miss it if you do not know exactly where it is.

There is so much history in this grill. The owner, Melanie Tusquellas (who also now owns the slightly refurbished El Chavo on Sunset) has imbued the decor with pics and artifacts that belie very early Hollywood's strong presence in the neighborhood. Edendale itself is housed in an old firehouse, the bar is where there main engine was kept, as is evident by the huge swinging double doors.

This used to be the front entrance to a firehouse, circa 1925. And onto the food:

First out were the infamous meatballs. These are maybe the best tasting thing on the menu. The sauce is slightly spicy, and the herbed ground beef and sauce are covered in melty mozzarella, baked in the dish.

Next stop were the salads. The above Caesar was decent, but not even a trace of anchovies. I don't remember ever having eaten a Caesar here before, so I am unclear whether this is their recipe or the kitchen just ran out. But a Caesar needs that fishy kick, IMO. This cannot even come close to touching Pat's recipe.

I loved the flavors in my arugula and fig salad. Fresh arugula, lots of figs, thick rich balsamic vinegar, chunks of bacon and ricotta cheese sprinkled throughout. However, the pantry chef must have been asleep on the job. The arugula was served, literally, in little branches. I tried to put some of this on D's plate, but when I dug in the entire salad moved because the branches were interconnected like layers of plant life in a rain forest.

In order to eat the arugula, I had to lift an entire branch and chew the leaves off with my teeth. I suppose I could have cut each leaf off with my fork and nibbled at it in a more civilized manner. I have two issues with that approach: 1) separating the leaves from the branches is not MY job, and 2) it would have been far less interesting to watch.

C orders mac n' cheese almost wherever he goes, T says. Mainly I think he likes to know if there is another one anywhere that measures up. I know C's cooking, and I am guessing there is not. This one failed the test. T wonders why he does this, subjecting himself to inferior mac n' cheese. I will posit he does so because even bad mac n' cheese is still mac n' cheese.

This one was extremely reminiscent of Kraft Shells and Cheese from the box with the pre-made cheese sauce in the foil package. You know the one.

There is one word for my roast chicken: weird. Roast chicken is a favorite of mine. This one was dry and weirdly crispy on the outside, reminiscent of deep fried turkey. C touched it, tasted it and decided all the other entrees were ready and this one was still pink in the center. So the cook did what cooks all over the world in lesser restaurants do and dropped it in the fryer real quick to finish it off. Not good but not horrifying. Just ok. The kale it sat on was delicious.

Blue nose bass, by all accounts was ok. D says this am, "It was ok. The food there is ok. The atmosphere is awesome."

C's pulled pork sandwich was dry, without a lot of zing.

And I have the same problem with the bleu cheese fries I always have. The bleu cheese is not melty. I like my cheese fries to have a melty cheese, so the fry itself gets slightly sticky. It's a prerequisite for a cheesy fry.


It was a beautiful night, in good company with lovely and accommodating service and an entertaining floor show people watching. There is nothing I enjoy more than a beautiful southern California night with my friends who know me the best. I could eat cheese and crackers sitting on the front porch stoop and have a smile on my face.

Birthday Party at The Park. Happy, Happy Day, A!

The Park
1400 Sunset Blvd
at the corner of Douglas
in Echo Park.
Tel: 213/482.920

We met friends for dinner to celebrate A's birthday Saturday night at The Park. Shame on us for not eating there sooner. It is literally 2 blocks from our front door, damn delicious and inexpensive. Shame. The good news is, now we can rectify our misdeeds often.



I like the interior. There is not glitz, no glam, just some paint and a few candles. And their lovely mascot, this gas lamp standing in the corner by the booster seats and highchairs.



The simplicity of the decor perfectly reminds you of the trees in the park down the street. Echo Park.



There are a lot of great choices on the menu. There are vegetarian options, vegan options, and plenty of everything else. The price is excellent for the quality. Appetizers are $8-9, pastas are about $12, and entrees between $12 and $16. Huzzah!



I am loving the tap water trend. Los Angeles has very decent tap water. But I am fancy enough to enjoy restaurants that dress it up a little. Thoughtfully, simply, elegant.



We started by sharing the Szechuan fried calamari salad, served atop butter lettuce. This is delicious. The sauce is light, the calamari are cooked to the prefect degree of tenderness. We ate this up fast.



We all passed around our appetizers, and everyone got a taste. Below are the mini-cornmeal pancakes topped with fresh corn, seared shrimps and chipotle butter, and some Mexican crema. Wow. These are a definite must-do next time we stop by. The pancakes themselves are wonderful, light and fluffy but with substance. And the shrimp/crema mixture on top added a little luxury...very very good.



The birthday girl ordered the heirloom tomato galette. Inside is fontina and mozzerella cheeses, atop are heirloom tomatoes with a red wine vinaigrette and some chili oil for kick. This had nice flavors, but I thought the filling was thicker and stodgier than I would have liked to taste. I'd prefer the inside of the galette a little lighter. Good though, still very good.



Onto the entrees...D ordered the linguine and clams in white wine sauce. I like something this hearty and simple in a neighborhood restaurant. Everything does not have to be revinvented to be worthy. I sampled liberally from this plate.



J ordered a burger. I was kinda dying for a bite, but a burger is so personal. You know, you get your hands and face really in there, if it is a worthy burger. J was enjoying this immensely. I did sneak more than a couple of fries from his plate. Good fries. Great aoili. Very garlicky, but you could also clearly taste some lemon, too.



Below is something that was from the specials menu. I have no recollection what it was, well it was fish. But it sounded great when it was described. I see some spinach or kale, some rice and carrots...healthy.



A different J's pulled pork. A chipotle Kurubota pulled pork with sweet corn pudding and Napa cabbage slaw. She was enjoying this..she ate every bite so it must have been good. I might try this next time.



They have a classic Ceasar on the menu. Fluffy, looked good. Didn't taste.



I ate the grilled polenta and portobella mushroom, with romesco sauce and creamed kale. This dish is a winner. I am assuming it slipped being vegan by the cream in the kale, but they kept the kale pretty light. This was hearty and generous in size, Italian comfort food.



The other L ordered the salmon from the menu. I have read raves about this from the innerwebs. It is crusted in sesame seeds, served with a soy-mirin butter, gingered asian green and radish avocado sushi. Festive!



The Park is the quintessential little neighborhood restaurant. They take limited reservations because they always try to leave room for walk ins from the 'hood. It was packed from the time we got there til the time we left. There were several large parties, and everything and everyone was well cared for the entire time. Our service was perfect, no food went back to the kitchen, and they tirelessly opened bottle after bottle of our BYOB with no corkage. I am impressed.

The Night We Ran Away From Home

A reservation for 6 people on a Saturday night at 8 pm can be a hard thing to come by. And we had other requirements. The food must be decent. The restaurant must be east side. It must have a full bar. The atmosphere must be fun, yet the food must not be too pricey. The new Home in Echo Park/Silverlake at the corner of Fletcher and Riverside fit the bill on all counts.



However. No one wants to eat dinner listening to this.



Or this.



In what fresh hell are we existing when a lovely restaurant bar in Echo Park/Silverlake plays the Friday night soundtrack to Weho's Rage?



We quaffed a few drinks while considering the following. Can we get over the music to a large enough extent that we can actually have an entire meal? We shared a few fried bar apps, while visions of naked sweaty boxer clad flesh danced in our heads.



We asked for the soundtrack to be changed. Four times. D threatened to take off his shirt and dance on the bar. J offered the bartendress $10 to change the music. Denied!



Finally, the sensitive ears and vociferous mouths of the musicians in the group won, and we took our food & booze money elsewhere. I am really looking forward to having home as a local. I hope this particular dance mix isn't something the bar manager is married to.

LABite.com: Food Delivery for the Geographically Undesireable

I have been using LABite.com for my food delivery needs over here in Echo Park for the last few months. They say they have been servicing LA since 2001, but I think they must have recently expanded their service area. I seem to recall them saying nay to deliveries this far east about two years ago.


At any rate, recently they have delivered lovely meals from Vermont, Daily Grill, The Grill on Hollywood (which has jumbo lump crab cocktails, hence the distinction) and Kazoko Sushi twice, both times were very serviceable.


LABite has a laundry list of restaurants in several price ranges, they calculate a service fee and a tip (ok, ok, it's not their restaurant that is profiting from the food purchases so I get the necessity), and the driver never tries to get you to tip him extra at the door, nor will he even let you if you try.

Check it out, readers. LABite.com.

Seedy is not as glanourous as it used to be.

One Sunday evening, perusing Echo Park with nothing much to do, we stopped in at the Cha Cha Room for a couple vodka and sodas.



Now, I love a good dive bar as much as the next red blooded American girl. Always have, and always will.



Somehow, they aren't as glamourous as they used to be. There is a lack of mystery to be had in a low down local cheap ass watering hole.



Or maybe I've reached the stage in life when I just shouldn't visit one before sundown.



This sign does beg an interesting question...

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. ~Steven Wright

When living in a city entirely based on car culture (exceptions given to Critical Mass groups and those subject to public transportation), we see our neighborhoods in a very particular and distanced way. Driving by quickly, through the windshield or side window, abstracted by whatever weighs most heavily on our minds at any given drive-by moment. Last Friday we did a walk about with our friend A in our own neighborhood, and not only had a wonderful hot summer evening kind of time, but saw things from a very different vantage point.

The magical realism of our local liquor store is both a landmark and a beacon.



One of many of the Los Burritos chain:



No one in a car would know they have a mascot. Go figure.


The Gold Room. One of the last local hold outs against the encroaching hipsters. Is there a reason the word "roach" is embedded within the word "encroach"?



I never even knew this taco truck was here. And it was here three nights last week. It is just far enough off the boulevard that it might fly under an autoists radar.



Apparently, time travel is for sale in Echo Park. Where or when do YOU want to go?



The Echo. The current heart of indie music in Los Angeles.



Is there a subliminal message here? Purposefully, or just coincidence? And what is the message?



And finally, we arrive at Taix. The best French sports bar I have ever been to.




Playing at Taix that night was this woman, whose name escapes me. Her music is a lovely little cross between Jewel and Hope Sandoval.



Next act up, Fifty Cent Haircut. They were great. I would buy a CD.