And the Oscar goes to....

Don't tell anyone but Mikey and I hopped the fence last night onto the Oscar red carpet. It was great! We were hobnobbing with the stars and offering rote interviews to bleary-eyed reporters. Before being escorted off the carpet, Wolfgang Puck tossed me this gold-powdered chocolate statuette he prepared for the Governer's Ball that night.

I love freebies. It's the only indicator I've finally made something of myself. Sure, Oscar goodie bags are worth thousands, but this chocolate gem is priceless. Hurray, I brought home an Oscar! Now the question is, should I eat it or Ebay it?


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In the News:

SUPERSIZED PLEA: "Food Police" Wants Restaurants to Disclose Nutrition Information on Menus

MILKING THE MARKET: Dairy Industry Push Branded Emoticon to Teens

How to Live off Japanese Curry for a Week

MONDAY

When you're really in the poorhouse the best thing to do is make a big pot of House Curry and eat it for the rest of the week. Don't even bother sticking it in the fridge. Just leave it on the stove and warm it up just before you eat. (Okay, I take that back. This isn't Japan where room temperature is the same as the fridge's in the dead of winter.)

Of course, the big question is how to keep yourself from going insane eating the same thing every day. Well, last week I tested my culinary prowess making as many dishes as I could using the same pot of curry. On Monday I had the standard curry over rice. The trick is to slow simmer it for at least two hours, but not to the point where the potatoes turn mushy. I like adding diced apples into the mix of carrots, onions, chicken and potatoes. It has a nice texture to it.

TUESDAY

Mmm, nothing beats a juicy piece of fried pork chops, otherwise known as tonkatsu. When you add it to curry it's called katsu-kare.The supermarket at Koreatown Galleria sells two slabs for under 3 bucks.

WEDNESDAY

After a couple days of heating and reheating, the pot 'o curry starts to thicken like no other. That's when you take out another pot and boil a fistful of udon noodles. The soup base is fairly simple to make. It's roughly a cup of water, a pinch of dashi, a few tablespoons of soy sauce, and a tablespoon of sake. The beauty of kare udon is that even if you mess up the soup base the curry will act as your cover.

THURSDAY

Oh the lovely kare-pan! After Mikey started going off about his craving for Famima's own curry bread, I got the idea to fry up my own batch. The bread took some work. I added yeast and let it rise overnight. Then I turned my kitchen into a floury haze, rolling out the dough into flat circles. After that, I spooned in some curry, sealed it into an oval pouch, dipped it into egg and panko, and fried.

FRIDAY

Okay, so I didn't eat curry on Friday. I really wanted to but was forced to join the real world and socialize with friends. But it was horrible I tell you. I kept on thinking about my pot 'o curry and what it was doing all alone at home. I decided to freeze the rest of it for another week. Maybe next time I'll make curry omelette rice, oooh or steamed curry bun. Or how bout curry ice cream? The sky's the limit when you're poor.

I don't mean to comment on Pinkberry but...

A friend posed a question to me today: What can a generic yogurt ice cream shop owner do to stay afloat if he/she just found out Pinkberry was moving into the neighborhood?

My answer?: "Don't even try."

I've had many of Pinkberry's valiant competitors and as much as I love rooting for the underdog I must admit that at the end of the day I'd rather have Pinkberry.

There, I said it. Now I feel dirty.

But with that said, really, what can one do? It's like being a guppy in the big blue ocean and seeing a shark heading straight toward you. *Cue Jaws theme*

Here are my personal suggestions:

1) Maintain quality fresh fruit. Some people I know are particularly picky about mangoes. Don't be sneaky and slip in the hard or sour pieces.

2) Stay open late and advertise that fact. Young people love to eat at night. LA has such a dearth of good late-night eateries.

3) Be generous on the portions. No hollow middle, please.

4) I dunno, maybe add fun stuff like a magazine rack, a flat panel screening showing music videos all day, board games ... Puri-kura machine?

Personally, I think Pinkberry's defining characteristic is that there's little creaminess to it. That's key. Even after consuming a giant bowl of dessert you still feel good about yourself. No heaviness, no feeling of utter disgust. It's simply counter-intuitive. That's why people come.

Gardens of Taxco @ West Hollywood

Mikey has never been a big fan of food south of the border, but for most things in life there's exceptions; that being The Gardens of Taxco. So last night I decided to take him out of the basement and head to West Hollywood for some home-style Mexican cooking.

Nestled in a sleepy corner of Boys Town, it's one of those classic spots for a romantic interlude with the lights dimmed so low you can barely see the person you came with. Though with chilled margaritas in hand and our vision blurring by the minute, Mikey and I didn't care much for making goo-goo eyes... it was all about the grub.

In lieu of an actual menu, a portly gentleman with a heavy accent and a song in his heart arrived at our table to serenade us with the specials of the day. It's a five-course meal with everything but the main dish set for you.

First came a quesadilla appetizer topped with fresh guacamole. Simple and tasty.

Next came a cup of albondigas soup. A little bit soft for my taste but the broth was nice and light. Comes in handy for those chilly LA nights.

Then came a small plate of enchilada stuffed with chicken and layered in velvety cheese sauce. Mikey was handed a crunchy taquito topped with sour cream and guacamole. By now, our stomachs were 3/4s full. But wait, there's more...

My main dish was shrimp slow-simmered in hot garlic sauce. Though it's a much tamer version of Killer Shrimp's own recipe, it packed a good punch, and if I were less civilized I'd be digging in with my fingers, licking clean every spice-soaked digit. Mikey had the chicken a la creme. "Like the chicken was borrrrn in it," the waiter said to us, rolling his tongue in a most unusual fashion.

By now, Mikey and I are hunched over in the fetal position. It's a lot of food to digest in one sitting, but that just leaves leftovers for the next day. And wait, there's one more...

At last comes dessert, sliced bananas covered in a blend of three creams. The waiter pours us a glass of sherry which you can either sip casually or douse into the cream. Either way, you're bound to start hiccuping and rubbing silly your flushed red cheeks.

Total damage = About $20 per person, not including margaritas

Gardens of Taxco
1113 N. Harper Ave.
West Hollywood, CA
(323) 654-1746

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Sanuki Sando Now Open in WLA (wOOt!)

If you're like me, by your second bowl of Santoka Ramen you'll be groaning in discomfort, telling yourself that maybe it's time to take a break. It's not you, it's me. Really.

Most of my friends fall under the category of kotteri-kei. They love rich, artery-clogging foods sure to leave them comatose 'til morning. I, on the other hand, am assari-kei, a lover of all things light and refreshing. So this weekend I and the rest of the assari-kei's celebrated the WLA opening of Sanuki Sando just adjacent to Santoka ramen at Mitsuwa Market.

Though it isn't on par with Otakufu in Torrance, I'm comforted by the thought that now I can get a decent bowl of noodles, whether udon or soba, without having to make the 30-minute trek to the South Bay.

There's a lot of noodle toppers to choose from: tempura, grilled beef, sansai (mountain vegetables), chicken and more. There's also a special menu selection of Kobe curry udon/soba. Never knew Kobe was famous for curry but I'll definitely try it next time to see what the big deal is.

I'm recovering from a nasty cold so I settled on beef udon for stamina. I was disappointed when the excessive fat oozed into the clear broth making for an oily soup, but the al dente firmness of the noodles kept me satisfied. Personally, that's what makes a good bowl of udon.

Santoka's fanbase has been steady and growing, and frankly I don't expect any new additions to the food court could ever trump it. But for the sake of variety, as well as my stomach, I'm glad for Sanuki Sando. Go assari-kei!

3760 Centinela Ave.,
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310)398-2113
10:00AM - 8:00PM