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.

5 More Nights in Bakerfield: Night #2, continued

After TJ Maxwell's, we headed to The Bistro, a restaurant in the Four Points Sheraton hotel on the west side of town. I am wary of mid-level hotel restaurants. I just am. But Peter says the chef here informs his cooking with contemporary cooking methods (molecular gastronomy, anyone? Hanging with Herve This and Ferran Adria? I think not.) However, the menu is seasonal and it had literally changed the day prior to our arrival at the bar on Night #2. One item we ate was strange, and strangely kinda good.. The other item was just plain delicious.



First up were tempura'd artichoke hearts, in a honey sauce, with cream cheese. This sounds disgusting, actually, but I put my trust in Peter, the man who finds PF Changs to be fine dining. I was throwing caution into a strong leeward wind.



I don't know what the batter was around these artichoke hearts. It tasted ok, but it was thick and heavy although not overly fried. I only tasted it. But the honey sauce and the chokes themselves were just lovely. there was very little cream cheese, just enough for a hint which was pleasing. Enjoyable.



Next up was grilled salmon in an heirloom tomato sauce veirge served over an artichoke cake. This was amazing. I haven't had a better dish in I don't know how long. The fatty fish balanced the acidity of the heirloom tomatoes perfectly. The artichoke cake was mostly artichoke heart, with just a tiny bit of breading to hold it together, all served atop a bed of ever so slightly wilted watercress. I am salivating just thinking about it. This was fantastic.



D ended the evening smoking a stogie he had purchased at a downtown cigar bar. Bakersfield is a last bastion of civility in the sense that the patrons at the cigar bar are allowed to enjoy both their bar and their cigar simultaneously. Drinking and smoking. The way cigars are meant to be enjoyed. But, it was late and I rise early so he settled for smoking it on the balcony of my hotel room whilst talking on his cell phone. Tres romantique.

most.delicious.food.ever.(maybe)

In San Francisco last weekend meeting friends, we stopped in at the South Market wine bar and restaurant Bacar for a quick meal. I have been there once, and remember it being a nice meal with an excellent wine list, but I do not remember being of this caliber. This meal was the best meal I have had in a long time. Interesting choices, well prepared and cooked meats, top class service and consideration...I was really floored by the experience.

http://www.bacarsf.com/



We started with a beautiful bottle of 2004 pinot noir from hope & grace vineyards, it was great. Full bodied for a pinot, deep and delicious but not overpowering in the company of chicken and fish. Love the balloon glasses, I could drink diet coke or coffee out of these daily.


Because you never see this rustic and earthy item on a menu in California (I never have, as a dish unto itself anyway) I HAD to order the bone marrow. It was delectable, silky and luscious...a treat after all the walking of the past two days. I spread it on the wheat bread crostini it came with and it was perfect with sprgs of parsley to add a touch of grassy green flavor.



My constant dining and sleeping companion ordered the "warm mushroom salad", which was a misnomer. It was really a frisee au lardons, with warm wild mushrooms and butter lettuce added to the frisee. It looked gorgeous, and he swears it was yumminess. Two pics, one for the presentation and one for the good bits at the bottom!

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For mains, I ordered the oven-roasted chicken and he ordered the salmon. Both were exceptional. The chicken was perfectly cooked, juicy with crisp skin served over a genius bed of chicken livers, warm green grapes, slivered green beans and candied walnuts with a reduced chicken jus...and along the side of the plate was a pureed sauce of walnuts and bread, soft an subtle flavor, warm homey texture. I would fly back to SF just for this dish. Why do I love chicken so? It tastes....just like chicken.



The salmon seemed well paired if not well cooked. Not well cooked for a barbarian, anyway. My companion cannot eat any meat that is not cooked within an inch of charcoal So he sent back the lovely slightly pink salmon so they could scorch it to his liking. It came back served over lovely little fingerling potatoes and honeydew melon. I love the idea of pairing the salmon with the honeydew..sweetness and light with that unique flavor and fatty texture of salmon. Nice. I didn't taste it because I don't always want to share food. Usually because I order what I want to eat. I see no reason to share. Unless yours looks better than mine.



Last but not least was the cheese course (for me) and the chocolate "looks like a gooey pile of sugary junk from Ralph's" dessert for him. I never understand this type of dessert. If I want chocolate, I want something simple like a chocolate mousse or chocolat pot de creme. Whatevs! My cheese was great, some kind of tomato rubbed pecorino.