Author Archives: Anne

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Anne| 6 Comments
Tartine Bakery, San Francisco


Don’t you hate it when something doesn’t live up to the hype? The iPad is something that comes to mind, with the majority of press calling the much-anticipated tech product “overpriced and disappointing.” As a food lover, few things are as annoying as overhyped eats. I’ll be bold and say that local Los Angeles fave Casa Bianca falls under that category (in my opinion folks, so please keep the tomato-throwing to a minimum, thank you!) mainly for their use of canned mushrooms on their pizza. I can’t be down with canned mushrooms. Ever. On anything. I mean, it isn’t like we live in Antarctica where canned mushrooms might be your only choice. El Coyote is another L.A. landmark regularly filled to capacity, but if I wanted gloppy, overcooked Mexican food, I could just get some Taco Bell and put it on a plate (sorry Taco Bell, actually you’re not bad for the late night, post-drinking 4th meal). Although I’ve enjoyed the occasional bowl of tangy Pinkberry, the frozen concoction served in cutesy, colorful shops hardly lives up to the hype. I mean, c’mon people- it’s frozen yogurt, not the second coming of Ghandi.

That said, there are certainly places that deserve every last note of praise sung it their names by devotees the world ‘round. In N Out cheeseburgers with grilled onions are incredible and the maple bacon donuts at Nickel Diner are worth every, indulgent calorie. Ultimately, food is subjective, so it comes down to matters of taste, likes and dislikes, but these two things really do it for me. I recently found another place that does indeed live up to the hype- Tartine Bakery in San Francisco.

J and I went up at the end of last year (again, catching up on my blogging!) and I insisted we go and see what all the internet love was about. The line snaking out the door at 11:00am was a good sign, and we dutifully took our places while I craned my neck above the crowd to see what on earth smelled so ridiculously heavenly. I had to resist the urge to elbow my way up to the front and stick my face on the glass like some little kid, but my eyes darted around the room taking in all of the lovely goodies resting in front of the lucky bastards (ok, too harsh) that were already seated. Let’s take a looky-loo, shall we?

Some berry pastry that every other person seemed to be eating

Giant discs of chocolate chip goodness…

Smaller discs of equally delicious goodness…

Luscious lemon bar…..


Yummy-looking scones……

If you’ve never had a gougere, your life is incomplete…..

The last part of the line runs right along the glass case filled with a gorgeous array of breads, cookies, pastries, puddings, bars and other carby goodies so you have plenty of time to try and accomplish the impossible task of choosing what you will eat. It’s times like those that you wish for a larger stomach (I mean, when do we girls EVER want for a bigger tummy?!) and do the tough negotiating in your mind while the register looms closer and closer. “If I got cookies I could get a few since they’re small….but then I’d miss the bread pudding…but the lemon bars seem really popular so maybe they are the best thing…what’s that berry pastry that looks so good?” But then, you see IT. The sea of fools part (sorry, I’ve had Jeff Buckley ringing in my head all week) and you know you’ve met The One, otherwise known as the Tartine Croissant. OhMyLordWhatAThingOfBeauty. The minute I saw the pile of huge, flaky croissants I KNEW at least one (if not two) were destined to be in my mouth:

Why, hello, beautiful!

J, who feels the same way about bread pudding as I do about croissants, practically dove into the gigantic chafing dish filled to the brim with a peach and blueberry version.

Did the croissant live up to the hype? Let me just say this: Best Croissant I Ever Had. No doubt about it. The outside was shatteringly crisp and buttery, while the inside was layered with soft, nicely baked layers of the same rich pastry. One of my pet peeves is buying what seems to be a beautifully baked croissant only to find a raw, doughy middle. Ew. No raw dough to be found here, as every delicious layer led to another. Croissant heaven.

Perfection.

J’s bread pudding was also stellar; moist, custard-soaked brioche studded with slices of fresh peaches and dotted with blueberries was just sweet enough, letting the fruit really shine through. Our only regret was ordering a cup instead of a bowl of it since it was gone in just a few, short minutes.

J’s cup ‘o bread pudding…

We bought a couple of sweets to take back to our hotel, but I can’t seem to recall what they were because the only things swimming in my mind at the time were the smell and taste of that perfect croissant.

I could take that guy…you distract him while I steal those criossants!

Believe the hype.

Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-1528
(415) 487-2600

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Posted in baked goods, Boulevard San Francisco, croissants, pastries, San Francisco bakeries, Tartine Bakery

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Anne| 9 Comments
Cooking for 40


Holy cow- I truly stink at photography- ironic, really, since my father used to be a professional photographer. Sorry Papa, even though I got your Punctuality Gene and Cooking Gene, it looks as if the Photography Gene only landed in my sister and not me. I just spent the last few minutes downloading photos from my camera only to see shot after awful, blurry shot of much of the food I cooked or ate over the last couple of months. Yes, it’s been THAT long since I last blogged, but trust me- based on those crappy photos I’m saving you, dear reader, from being exposed to my poor documentation of some really good food. I simply did it no justice!

These photos fall into that category as well, but I couldn’t NOT post about the first time I cooked for close to 40 people. Yep- forty. J and I decided to throw a party for his band/crew family to celebrate the end of the year since the guys travel so much and we hardly ever get a chance to hang out. You know what? It wasn’t so hard. I did it bit by bit over the course of five days, and although I was sweatin’ it a little on party day, it all came together fairly painlessly. After all, I did get the Planning Ahead Gene from my dad as well.

On the first day, I made the savory pastry crust for four mushroom and gruyere tarts and tossed them in the freezer. The next, I made 7 quarts of pureed butternut squash soup which also went into the freezer, and made the mushroom filling for the aforementioned tarts. They day before the party I marinated the pork tenderloin and made a big batch of caramelized onion jam for the sliders, and prepped both the carnivore and vegan version of bacon wrapped dates. All that was left to do on the actual day of the party was put it all together, and make 4 quarts of Barefoot Contessa’s famous mac ‘n cheese!

Here’s the evidence:

Two kinds of salami, purchased at Nicole’s Gourmet Imports in South Pasadena:


I love savory tarts and have made this mushroom and gruyere version many times.


If you make four and then cut each into 12-15 pieces, you immediately have enough for a large party:


Two kinds of sliders: Garlic/balsamic/rosemary-marinated pork tenderloin and vegan bratwurst, both topped with sweet caramelized onion jam, arugula and spicy dijon mustard on Trader Joe’s slider buns:


Little pastry cups filled with a mixture of crème fraiche, horseradish, lemon zest and chives topped with flakes of smoked salmon:

Up front: Crudités of lightly blanched green beans, asparagus and sugar snap peas served with hummus:

The Barefoot Contessa’s rich, beautiful macaroni and cheese made with three cheese, a pinch of nutmeg and topped with fresh breadcrumbs. I skipped the tomatoes since they weren’t (and still aren’t) in season:


You can’t have a party without cheese, crackers and assorted other nibbles like olives and cornichons!


I rented chafing dishes for the first time ever- along with heat lamps, tables and chairs from Dolphin Party Rentals in Pasadena- everything was awesome and they deliver and pick up. So easy. That soup chafer is filled with butternut squash soup, one of my favorites. The only real trouble making that is breaking down five squash- peeling, seeding, cutting….but worth the effort:

On the left: Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo. On the right: veggie bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with soyrizo. Honestly, they were equally delicious and one of the most popular items at the party. Just buy seeded dates, stuff cooked sausage or soyrizo into each, wrap with your choice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. You can do this the night before, then bake them on a cookie sheet the day of the party:

Call me crazy, but cooking this much food was so fun…my love of cooking only grows by the minute, and I’ve started to just make most dishes based on what I personally like to eat instead of following recipes. Of course when there is a recipe as good Barefoot Contessa’s mac ‘n cheese, you gotta make it! There are few things in life as satisfying as seeing the smiles on friends’ faces when they eat something you made for them, and I’m glad we did it!

What’s your favorite party dish?

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Posted in appetizers, Party food, vegan food

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Anne| 6 Comments
あけおめ!!!

Sweet black beans (kuromame) and chestnuts

So here we are, dear reader(s)…the dawn of a new decade! The Japanese above is what my friend Sugar said to usher in the new year- it means “Ake-ome” which is short for “Akemashite Omedeotou” which is the way to say “Happy New Year” in Japanese. So あけおめ everyone!

Kamaboko- fish cake

I went back and forth on whether to open up 2010 on Tuna Toast with these fuzzy images taken on my LG cell phone camera. After all, doesn’t everyone want to hit the ground running as best they can, whip out their A-game, vow to be better this year than the last? Although I’d love to do all those things (and still plan to!) I couldn’t skip an entry which shows off all of the wonderful food my mom made for our yearly “osechi ryori” dinner at my parents house. Everything was delicious as usual, and my husband J looks forward to this meal ALL year long so you can imagine how good it is!

Lots of sake to wash the meal down with!

So please excuse the poor photo quality, but I figure the quality of the food will shine through my lame camera phone images and I’ll make sure to bring the camera next time.

Nimono- simmered lotus root, mountain potato, burdock root, veggies

A rainbow of salmon, tuna and squid sashimi

My mom’s famous shime-saba (marinated mackeral)

Sticky little sweet fish to nibble on with sake

Yaki-zakana- salt-grilled snapper (tai)

The table, all set and ready to go!

Happy 2010 to everyone!!!

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Posted in Japanese food, New Year's, osechi ryori

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Anne| 5 Comments
Autumn In New York

Warning: this will be a photo-heavy post! I just wanted to finish out my East Coast trip here by posting the rest of my New York photos. I joined J on tour for a few days in October and we had an amazing time. The weather was perfect and we had an entire day-and-a-half off so we covered a LOT of ground. Here are some highlights:

Breakfast at this cute little Japanese bakery down the street from the Cooper Square Hotel, where we were staying:

It reminded me so much of the many bakeries in Japan. J got his favorite “sugar toast” and I got a corn/tuna roll and then we shared a croissant sandwich. They also know how to make a proper iced coffee, thank goodness! Note to café owners all over America: pouring HOT coffee over ICE does NOT make it ICED COFFEE! Sorry for the caps, but it’s a major pet peeve of mine.

Freshly baked goods lined the shelves and made the whole place smell heavenly!


They had a nice variety of bento boxes too……..yum.

While walking around the city, we spotted a cute little kitten investigating some produce:

Had we not filled our tummies at the Japanese bakery, we would have had these nice looking empanadas:

Later that night, J played his show at the Roseland Ballroom:


The next day, we headed out. Is there anything better to do in New York City on a perfect autumn day than to stroll through Central Park?? I think not:

After we walked through the park (some of the park- it would take awhile to get through the entire place!) we ran into the infamous Papaya King, home of the hotdog and papaya tropical drink, so we HAD to try one:

The dog was good, but I’m not the biggest papaya fan so I’ll pass on the drink next time.

Our friend had asked if we’d ever been to High Line Park in the Meat Packing district, and we’d never even heard of it. It’s a park built on a section of the former elevated freight railroad of the West Side Line and we’re so happy he told us about it. It was absolutely breathtaking and one of the more beautiful examples of recycling something old into something new and useful to the community. Here’s the park from afar- see the grass?

Stairs up to the park:

Some tracks that remain:


Views from High Line:

A place to relax:

I’d been to New York before, but I really fell in love with it during this particular trip. One of my best friends JR said that autumn in New York always grabs your heart and seduces you…..but then you wake up in the clutches of a freezing winter a few short weeks later and the romance will fade away. I can take snow, but for a humidity hater like myself, the muggy headlock of summer in the city would most definitely bring our love affair to an end….but who thinks of that when you’re walking hand-in-hand with your sweetie through Central Park in Autumn?

New York, you’re a fickle beast.

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Posted in Central Park, Cooper Square Hotel, High Line Park, New York City, Papaya King

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Anne| 4 Comments
Where Am I?

List of menu items line the wall……..and one item that, er, should NOT be on any menu. Can you find the dirty word?

People pack the smoke-filled izakaya……….

Yakitori on the grill…..smells gooood….

The man behind the grills…………

Tsukune and quail eggs…..YUM.

Gyutan, aspara-bacon and tebasaki……….

Vintage poster on the wall……………

Poster of yakitori varieties……

The classic yakitori w tare…………..

The sign says “delicious! cheap! fast!”

So am I at a yakitori house in Kichijoji? An izakaya in Koenji, perhaps? From my seat on a tiny little tree-stump of a stool, it certainly seemed like I was. The sounds, the smells…..even the ubiquitous salaryman smoking cigarettes in a plexi-glass “smoking room” made me feel like I was transported back to the cramped, underground pubs that I’d eaten countless cheap (and delicious) meals in during my seven year stint in Tokyo. While it’s difficult to find quailty food served with large quantities of good, strong beer for under $10 per person here, these izakayas are everywhere in Tokyo and other major metropolitan areas throughout Japan. Thanks to the izakaya, I filled my belly daily with everything from sashimi to yakitori; crunchy deep-fried wontons filled with cheese and mentaiko to fresh salads topped with a popular mix of canned tuna and canned corn; grilled onigiri painted with thin layer of sweet soy sauce to yakisoba noodles served on a sizzling cast iron plate……oh how I dearly miss the izakayas of my Tokyo days. You have NO idea how much!

So imagine my utter joy when J and I stumbled upon an entire ROW of yakitori-yas and izakayas on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village in New York City! We were dragging our butts back to our hotel after consuming embarassingly large quanities of wine and an array of rich tapas but when I saw plumes of chicken-fat-burning smoke, my fullness went away and we ducked in to not one but two places. In Japanese there is something called a “betsu-bara” which means a separate stomach and that is the one I filled with all kinds of grilled meats and little nibbles from both places. It Was Awesome. I was literally transported and it felt amazing as J and I held our glasses of sake and chu-hi up to make a toast.

Although Los Angeles certainly has it’s share of Japanese neighborhoods (Torrance, Sawtell, Gardena) it does not have the bustling city-vibe that Tokyo has. It makes complete sense that New York can recreate the same vibe as Tokyo, and although I’d never thought of living in New York before, St Mark’s Place may have put the idea in my head….at least a little!

Hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving filled with lots of amazing food!

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Posted in East Village, Izakayas, Japanese food, New york restaurants, St. Mark's Place, yakitori

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Anne| 4 Comments
Casa Mono, NYC + 4th Blog Anniversary!

First, let’s get this out of the way: Wow, four years of Tuna Toast! Four years ago today, I started this little blog with a post about chocolate macarons, and it’s been sporadic postings about food, wine and travel in varying degrees of quality ever since! So thank you to everyone who has ever read this blog, I couldn’t have done it without you.

Do any of you “tweet?” I suppose if you know what that means, you do. If you don’t, you’ve either been living under a fairly large rock, or have taken a stand against social networking replacing in-person communication. Although I do, at times, empathize with the latter group, I have joined the masses on Facebook and Twitter and have come to the conclusion that we, as humans, may never have to speak using our voices to anyone ever again. Pretty soon we’ll be hugging on Twitter or kissing over Facebook. All you have to do is purchase a lips avatar, and there you go. Virtual kiss, delivered right to your Facebook wall. Smoochie goochies!

Ok, I’m over exaggerating, and I certainly don’t want the human race to cease all physical contact with each other. Sure, there are downfalls of social networking, but there are some pretty cool benefits. Case in point: while preparing for my recent trip to the East Coast, I asked the Twitter universe where I should eat in NYC. I did get many good recommendations, but a certain food writer sent me numerous restaurant recs, all via direct messages on Twitter (for those not in the know, a direct message is something intended just for you, not everyone on Twitter). Who was it? Well, none other than Pulitzer Award Winning writer and author Jonathan Gold. In what alternate universe is Jonathan Gold going to see my question, much less answer it? Welcome to Twitter, where stars, well, they are just like us. Take that, US Weekly!

In all seriousness, I felt Mr. Gold was very kind (as he is to many Twits, Twitterers, Tweeters, whatever you want to call us) to answer my query and of course wasted no time in making reservations to Casa Mono, a place he mentioned. J and I were meeting good friends for dinner so we made our way to the small tapas joint which was just a short stroll from our hotel in the East Village.

Casa Mono’s menu is quite large, and we decided that each of the four of us would choose two dishes, then we’d share the bounty. My friends K and P ordered the duck egg, foie gras, pork belly and bone marrow. I look at them and say, “Uh, don’t you want any veggies?” and K looks at me like I just stole her firstborn baby. “No, WHY?” seemingly exasperated at the horrid thought. What makes it worse is that K and P always look like they stepped out of the pages of a J Crew catalog, all blonde hair, flat tummies, clear skin and perfectly pressed clothes. Disgusting, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong- I love eggs, never met a foie I didn’t like, everyone on earth loves pork belly and bone marrow is going to be my Last Meal, but I generally try to balance out the fat with something other than more fat. Not to say I didn’t toss a phat dish into the ring by ordering the pork croquettas, but I did get the scallions with romesco to add a bit of green, while J went with the scallops and skirt steak. We also all decided to finish off the order with some razor clams. At least they’re sort of healthy. Here’s the damage:

Duck Egg with Mojama

Veal Cheek Tagine with Sweet Potato Cous Cous

Skirt Steak with Onion Mermelada

Scallops with Blood Oranges and Rainbow Carrots

Scallions with Romesco

Razor Clams a la Plancha

Bone Marrow with Radishes

Foie Gras with Cinco Cebollas

Hudson Valley Pork Croquetas with Green Tomatoes

Crispy Pork Belly and Apple Salad

Everything was muy delicioso, particularly the razor clams which were steamed and swimming around in a mix of garlic, brine and olive oil; and the foie gras which melted on my tongue like good, rich chocolate. The scallions were delicious as well- I’d seen them on the Spain episode of No Reservations and had always wanted to try them- charred scallions are stripped of the black outer layer and served with romesco, a sauce made of roasted red peppers and almonds. We finished off the meal with a cheese plate and some sorbetto.

When you end up with a table filled with empty plates and so many corks that you aren’t sure how many bottles of wine you went through, it’s the sign of a great night. Thanks to Mr. Gold for the recommendation, and thanks to K and P for teaching me that any friend who insists on ordering pork belly, bone marrow and foie gras together is the best kind of friend a girl could ever have.

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Posted in Casa Mono, New york restaurants, tapas restaurants

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Anne| 1 Comment
Boston, I Think I Love You

Boston, you’re a lovely town. I’d never had the pleasure to visit you until last month, and what can I say, you had me the minute the cool, fall breeze blew through my hair.

You have rows of brownstones on tree-lined streets dotted with cute boutiques and coffee shops……….

And everything has an old-town, historical feel to it……….

A place where everybody knows your name……….

Fenway Park……………

You have B&G Oysters, where J and I sat down to glasses of prosecco and a plate of beautiful oysters of different varieties………..

And where I had my very first lobster roll, which was so rich that J and I shared. Oh, and those fries……..o m g………

Cute puppies (ok, not exclusive to Boston but when you see a dog this cute, you find ways to get him into your blog post, ya know?)

Mike’s Pastry, where people stand in loooong lines just to buy one of your many flavors of delicious cannoli and other goodies………

and a lovely, nighttime skyline……………….

Other memorable things about Boston that I unfortunately didn’t get photos of:

The Liberty Hotel: quite possibly one of the most gorgeous hotels I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. It used to be the Suffolk County Jail and some of the bars and exposed brick from that time still remain, but interwoven beautifully with the new architecture. I can’t wait to stay there again.

Conversation I had in a clothing store:

Lady: “So, where ya girls from?”
Me: “Los Angeles”
Lady: “Oh yeah, so whaddaya do?
Me: “I’m in entertainment television”
Lady: “Ohhhhh, so ya workin’ with that Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz- they’re shootin’ up the street here ya know.”
Me: “No, not here with them.”
Lady: “Oh ok, so ya with that Matt Damon, he’s from here, ya know.”
Me: “No…not that either.”

The North End area, basically their “Little Italy.” There were so many amazing smells coming from the multiple Italian restaurants in the neighborhood, we couldn’t figure out which to eat at.

My only regret about Boston is that it took me so many years to finally get there. I’m glad I did, and look forward to many more trips there.

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Posted in BG Oysters, Boston, Mike's Pastry

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Anne| 5 Comments
Memories……

I love to cook for several reasons. It’s relaxing after a stressful day, it’s fun, it’s one of the few areas in my life where I feel like a Mac instead of a PC. One of the best things about cooking, however, is the reaction you get from people when you feed them. Feeding someone is SO basic, but it’s one of the most gratifying things you can do. If the person really enjoys what you feed them, it’s even better. People usually react positively if whatever you give them tastes good, but I’ve found that the most profound reactions come when you feed someone something that triggers a memory of some kind. Maybe it reminds them of a place they used to live, or a person who once cooked for them, or a time in their lives they felt carefree and happy.

Which brings us to these little cupcakes. They’re familiar to almost anyone who grew up in America. I always think of lunchboxes when I see these, not because they were in MINE, mind you (my parents were more Fig Newton types) but because I’d see them in other kids’ lunchboxes and secretly wished that one day a Hostess cupcake would magically appear in mine. I think these cupcakes and the foil-wrapped Ding Dongs were the most desired among my classmates at St. Luke’s Elementary School; a hot commodity when trading for other popular items like Capri Sun (juice in a pouch?!?! We thought it was so cool).

The easiest way to fill a piping bag is to set it in a glass first so you can scoop the filling into the bag

Ta-da!!!!!!

It’s ok if a little bit of filling peeks out because these are about to take a chocolate bath!

I’d seen these on a few blogs in the past and finally got around to making them today. The recipe is pretty straightforward- there are a few steps in constructing the final product but it’s really easy, and really fun. I especially looked forward to filling the cupcakes. Although many others used the “cone method” of cutting out a cone from the top of each, then filling the cupcake and putting the cone back in, I just shoved the tip of my piping bag into the top of each and squeezed. I think it worked well enough, although next time I will squeeze a little longer so more filing gets into each cupcake. I was afraid if I filled it with too much I’d have a Hostess Bomb on my hands.

I’m looking forward to the reaction I get from coworkers tomorrow- I wonder if a bite of these cupcakes will propel them back to time when life was about kickball, Family Ties and Slip N Slides. I hope so.


I think the logical next project is to try my hand at homemade Fig Newtons! Anyone ever made them?

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Posted in chocolate., cupcakes, desserts, Hostess

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Anne| 3 Comments
Drago Centro Small Bites: Best Deal In Town!

Ed note: All photos were taken by J’s iPhone since I forgot my camera. Not bad for a camera phone right?

I rarely use this blog to blatantly promote a restaurant, but I have to take this chance to tell you all: Run, don’t walk, to Drago Centro in downtown. Sit at the bar, order yourself one of four wonderful wines by the glass (all priced $6 or under) and order off the small plates menu. You’ll be eating some of the best, most well-prepared bar food in Los Angeles and feeling like you’re getting away with something when you get the bill.

Half-drunk glass of wine…trust me, they pour a lot!

Our first visit to Drago Centro was shortly after the restaurant opened, and we sat in the restaurant, had the tasting menu and enjoyed every single bite. It’s expensive but worth it- the service is impeccable, the view of downtown from the large, glass wall is gorgeous and the food delicious and beautifully presented. It’s fine dining at its best and the kind of place you think put on your list of where to go on a special occasion. So when we discovered that the bar area of the restaurant offered a small bites menu, we decided to go on a random Wednesday night and have been back four times in as many weeks.

The bar is adjacent to the main dining room, separated by the huge, plexi-glass wine cellar which runs all the way to the ceiling. There are chairs at the bar, a long communal table in the middle of the room, a couple of smaller two-tops, plus outdoor sofas and tables. You get a decent view of the kitchen and can watch one of two flat screen televisions which remain silent as jazz music streams quietly over the speakers. Elegant, yet relaxed. Another major plus in my book: all of the bar seating have backs on the chairs so you aren’t sitting on a stool for hours.

J and I always get two (each) glasses of the Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi Bianco from Campania- a light, refreshing white wine priced at only $5 a glass- and it’s always a generous pour….6 or 7 ounces at least. It’s a perfect accompaniment to the long, peppery cheese straws set in tall, silver vases that are all over the bar area so you can simply help yourself. Perfect to munch on while deciding what else to order…..

Having tried almost everything on the small bites menu, we have our favorites, but all of it is delicious. On this particular visit we went for:

La Bruschetta Mediterranea: a thick slice of peasant toast topped with roasted eggplant, smoked scamorza, roasted grapes and a hint of mint:

Not the prettiest of dishes but muy delicioso!

The Due Kobe Hamburgers: Mini Kobe beef burgers with mushrooms, arugula and fontina cheese on tiny brioche buns:

The La Pizza Ai Gamberi: a thin-crusted pizza topped with a pile of fresh shrimp, corn and mozzarella: (Ed note: We’d eaten 2/3 of it before realizing we needed to take a photo!)

We also always order this salad off of the regular restaurant menu- the Le Verdure e Lattughe Novelle: a gorgeous salad of assorted baby vegetables, young lettuces dressed with white balsamic (Ed note: again, being piggish we basically finished eating this salad by the time we thought to take a photo so this is the tail end of it!)

The quality is unbeatable- the salad is a perfect plate of the loveliest baby vegetables- zucchini, patty pan squash, Japanese turnips, golden carrots and radishes all cooked just a bit so that each element retains a nice, bright crispness. The shrimp on the pizza couldn’t be fresher and the Kobe beef in the sliders is always moist, juicy and brimming with flavor. Nothing is over $9, with most of the items priced at $4 or less.

It’s great to be able to eat at Drago Centro on any weeknight and get out for under $60 for two- with the four glasses of wine, pizza, bruschetta, salad and sliders our total came to just over $52.00. I hope you’ll all get a chance to check it out; we rarely see more than a few people at the bar and, selfishly, I want this to stick around, so go on- get yourself some Drago-quality food at Subway prices!

Drago Centro • 525 South Flower Street, Suite #120, Los Angeles, CA 90071

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Posted in Downtown Los Angeles eats, Drago Centro, Great Los Angeles bar menus, wine bars

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Anne| 4 Comments
Plum Kuchen

There are some recipes that take the internet by storm, and I think this one is well on its way. I mean, just look at this photo:

(c) 2009 Gourmet -CondeNast Publishing

I don’t know about you, but the minute I spotted this in my August issue of Gourmet, I fell in love. It’s just so dang beautiful, I had to make it mine. So I set out to bake in my un-air conditioned house in August. Love makes you do crazy things, doesn’t it?

My heart went pitter-patter once again when I saw these plums at the Pasadena Farmer’s Market:

Be still my bejeweled heart!

I went about making the yeasted “dough” although the consistency is a cross between a bread dough and a cake batter. After letting it rest/rise I cut up the plums and got ready to bake.

So this is where the love story sours just a bit. I swear I don’t know WHY I sometimes choose to ignore that little voice of instinct when it starts talking to me, but each time I pretend not to hear it, I regret it. I mean, it’s downright stupid really. Trust Your Instincts. I should write that in large red letters and post it on my fridge……..or my forehead. You see, for some reason I went against my better judgment and decided to bake the kuchen in glass bakeware instead of aluminum or a cast iron skillet, even though that little voice kept nagging me that I probably wouldn’t get great caramelization or browning with glass bakeware. It kept saying, “Don’t be a fool, you’re gonna get checked if you bake it in glass,” and I said, “Who gonna check me, boo?” Wait, sorry that was a quote from Sheree of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Anyway, you get the point.


Not to say that the cake was a failure by any means: the plums, sugar and butter had created a wonderful syrup that dribbled down the sides of the cake, which was moist, sweet and delicious. I was just disappointed that most of the top didn’t really brown very well, and we all know why. Oh, well. Based on looks, I’d give it a 5 but it had great personality overall. Next time: cast iron!

Have a great weekend!

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Posted in Gourmet Magazine recipes, Plum kuchen, sweets