Kamikaze Kitchen

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Val
Chefs Gavin Lansdale and Ben Ford ponder the ingredient in Episode 1

Chefs Gavin Lansdale and Ben Ford ponder the ingredient in Episode 1

As readers of Trippy Food already know, friend and fellow foodie Eddie Lin and I have collaborated on many events, including podcasts, videos posted to KCRW’s Good Food blog and videos that have appeared in previous Trippy Food articles. For those who don’t know Eddie, he is the author of Lonely Planet’s Extreme Cuisine, and has published articles in the New York Times and the Guardian as well as maintaining his own blog, Deep End Dining. Eddie has appeared on episodes of The Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods (with Andrew Zimmern),  CSI:NY, and Huell Howser’s California Gold, has been a judge on Top Chef Masters, and has been a regular contributor to KCRW’s Good Food and The Madeline Brand Show on KPCC. We have shared many exotic culinary adventures sampling everything from armadillo soup to braised nutria, and are now escalating this love of unusual cuisine to video via our new YouTube Channel, Kamikaze Kitchen.

Chef Kyle Schutte at 54Twenty prepares a special dish for Kamikaze Kitchen

Chef Kyle Schutte at 54Twenty prepares a special dish for Kamikaze Kitchen

The idea for the show was born as collaboration between Eddie and me back in 2011; we wanted to create an entertaining program that introduced new audiences to exotic dishes while working with some of the top and up-and-coming chefs on their own turf, essentially bringing the show to them. Whereas many of the chefs have previously participated in contests that pitted them against one another, Kamikaze Kitchen challenges the chef against his or her own skill and imagination. Eddie and I barge into the chefs’ kitchens like a bison in a china shop bearing a plain, brown bag, defined only by the question mark emblazoned on the outside. On each episode, a chef is presented with a unique exotic and is given some time to transform the questionable ingredient into something edible and delicious.

Chef Brendan Collins at Waterloo and City finishes a mystery dish

Chef Brendan Collins at Waterloo and City finishes a mystery dish

Along the way in each episode, we eventually wear out our unwelcome status, having pushed the chefs’ patience to its limits; it’s one of the few opportunities they have to participate in a competition where Eddie and I end up getting voted off the island. To date, we have worked with a variety of chefs with diverse backgrounds, and have been impressed with their ability to rise to the challenge and create dishes beyond our wildest expectations.

Episode 1 launched on September 24; it features Executive Chef Benjamin Ford and Chef du Cuisine Gavin Lansdale at Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, California. Ford’s Filling Station is no stranger to preparing food using unusual cuts, having been an early adopter of the nose-to-tail methodology, but we presented them with an ingredient that tested their mettle, resulting in dishes that lend themselves to a hilarious cavalcade of double-entendres. The best way to keep abreast of new episodes is to subscribe to the YouTube channel at /TheKamikazeKitchen; you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and chef bios and recipes will appear on a separate blog at  http://kamikazekitchen.blogspot.com.

Chef Jet Tila calls for service at The Charleston in Santa Monica CA

Chef Jet Tila calls for service at The Charleston in Santa Monica CA

I will continue to provide the same articles you enjoy on Trippy Food, and hope that you also enjoy this new venture as a video adventure that expands our coverage of unusual cuisine and entertains at the same time. Thank you for continuing to follow Trippy Food, and for checking out and spreading the word about Kamikaze Kitchen – if you love watching it half as much as we do making it, we’ll love it twice as much as you!

Kamikaze Kitchen
YouTube: TheKamikazeKitchen
Facebook: /KamikazeKitchen
Twitter: @KamikazeKitchen
blog: http://kamikazekitchen.blogspot.com
email: [email protected]

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Poutine

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Val

P’tit Soleil
Los Angeles (Westwood), California

Oh, Canada - a little Québec in Los Angeles

Oh, Canada - a little Québec in Los Angeles

I admit up front that I can come across sounding like a broken record decrying the aberration that is passed off as poutine in Southern California, truly a slap in the face to foreign policy with our neighbor to the north. Having been a guest in the City of Angels for close to ten years, I have found one cafe making authentic poutine classique and a gourmet food truck that vends a decent traditional poutine, but options for finding a decent tribute to the sloppy drunk food from Canada have been scarce at best. Enter P’tit Soleil, a poutinerie attached to Executive Chef and owner Luc Alarie’s Soleil Westwood (a haven for Canadian expatriates and Angelenos looking for legitimate Québécois cuisine). In addition to approximately a dozen varieties of poutine, P’tit Soleil offers a full menu of traditional French Canadian dishes as well as Canadian-inspired cocktails and imported beer.

"Poutine Mario", P’tit Soleil's poutine classique

"Poutine Mario", P’tit Soleil's poutine classique

Although small, the brick-lined bistro is sparsely furnished with thick wooden tables and aluminum chairs that open the room up; the space itself aptly resembles a Montréal poutinerie, and although each table is topped with a tiny Québec flag and the walls feature simple art with Canadian symbolism the hint really isn’t necessary. A blue laminated pamphlet stands proudly atop each table, sporting the title, “The Perfect Bite”; consider this your Field Guide for identifying the wild poutine. Although Chef Alarie has whimsically christened the poutines on the menu with the names of friends, family and acquaintances, most equate to a traditional poutine – for instance, the Poutine Simon Chen is Alaire’s version of the Italian poutine; the simple, basic poutine classique has been dubbed “Poutine Mario”. P’tit Soleil also has poutine Galvaude and poutine Dulton, but half the fun is poring through “The Perfect Bite” to determine which menu items these equate to.

Heard of crab cakes? Here's duck cakes

Heard of crab cakes? Here's duck cakes

Before we sample the copious Québécois delights, let’s get down to brass tacks and hold a candle up to the dish that levels the playing field, the poutine classique (how’s that for a mouthful of clichés?). We’ll work our way from the bottom up, starting with the ubiquitous French fries. P’tit Soleil’s fries are thinner than your average fast food variety (which, after all, is the standard); the benefit is that they crisp up when fried to a golden brown, resisting the temptation to go all soggy on your ass. The cheese curds are flown in weekly, and unfortunately the time lag results in a fromage lump that lacks the serious teeth-squeak of freshly-made Québécois fromage; the curds maintain their flavor and still have some spring in their step, still a cut above the melted cheese pawned off as a legitimate topping in high-end Los Angeles eateries. The brown gravy is better than authentic – while most poutine in Québec is doused with sauce from a dry mix, Chef Alaire makes his from scratch, adding another dimension to the flavor of the dish. For authenticity and flavor, P’tit Soleil’s squeaks by with an A-, with points shaved for the curds.

Getting to the meat of the matter in P’tit Soleil's tourtière

Getting to the meat of the matter in P’tit Soleil's tourtière

In addition to several of the outstanding poutines, I also sampled some of the other small dishes on the menu. The Roule de Choux (a veal and pork crispy egg roll with a mirepoix base) maintained the perfect balance of salty and sweet (with the accompaniment of a fresh plum sauce). The cylinder crumbled to the tooth and seemed to be represent something between lumpia and fried ravioli. A simple Crevettes Heather presented a phalanx of tiger shrimp standing at attention and bathed in a spicy cognac cream sauce; the crustaceans were still firm and had a vibrant and fiery flavor, a few degrees lower on the Scoville scale from Camarónes a La Diabla. Of special note was the Gâteau au Canard, a take on the familiar Maryland crab cake that substitutes duck for the crab. The texture was like a firm mashed potato (think Cuban potato balls or croquettes) with the duck reduced down to lacking muscle fiber and the cognac peppercorn and raspberry sauces on the side adding complexity to the taste. As if that wasn’t enough, I knocked back a traditional tourtière that was stocked with ground meat and featured a thick, flaky crust that tastes like the best meat knish you ever ate in your life.

Chef Alarie's take on Vachon cakes

Chef Alarie's take on Vachon cakes

In the event you’ve saved room for dessert, a must-try item is listed as “Les P’tit gâteaux Vachon faits à ma façon” – essentially, Chef Alaire’s take on the mass-produced pastries marketed by Vachon in Québec that takes him back to his childhood (the Canadian equivalent of Tastykakes, Hostess or Drake’s bakery items). Imagine the difficulty of trying to reproduce the almost waxy consistency of a Ding Dong’s chocolate skin using fresh ingredients while maintaining flavor and authenticity. Alaire hits it out of the park with three homages: “Ah! Caramel!” (a chocolate-glazed cake with a marshmallow and caramel heart); Jos Louis (the Ring Ding/Ding Dong tribute); and, May West (a custard-filled yellow cake with a chocolate shell). The pastries accurately represent their Vachon equivalents, but are somehow too decadent to be wasted on children.

You can put lipstick on a pig and call it Monique, but it is still a pig – such is the case with French fries topped with cheese and some sort of sauce being palmed off as poutine. With the opening of P’tit Soleil, it will soon be harder to deceive the uninitiated poutine consumer in the Los Angeles area; now, would someone here be kind enough to open a sugar shack?

P’tit Soleil
1386 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
GPS Coordinates:  34° 3’19.64″N 118°26’30.25″W

GALLERY: See images from Val’s visit to P’tit Soleil in Westwood (Los Angeles), California

NOTE: This cost for this meal was provided by the restaurant. The content provided in this article was not influenced whatsoever by the organizer of the event.

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Meet The Fetals

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Val

Balut
Southeast Asia

The first indication that this is not your typical egg

The first indication that this is not your typical egg

20th century cinema has given us creatures that evoke revulsion and fear, reducing audiences to howling, horrified school girls; who can forget watching the chest-burster plowing its way through John Hurt’s writhing body in Alien, or the disembodied head of Vance Norris (Charles Hallahan) sprouting spider legs in an attempt to escape incineration in John Carpenter’s The Thing? As horrific as these images are, the quivering little voice inside your head comforts you with the knowledge that this is simply cinematic technology at play, the product of skilled puppeteers, make-up artists and CGI techs. Nothing that Hollywood has presented to scare the bejeezus out of us can prepare the uninitiated diner for their first experience with the Southeast Asian street food known as balut in the Philippines, pong tia koon in Cambodia and Hột Vịt Lộn in Vietnam. At first glance, the dish seems relatively innocuous – the familiar faded white oval shell belies the evil that lurks deep inside, and if you’re not prepared for what you will inevitably tear asunder with each bite you could find yourself painting the carpet with Donald Duck’s progeny.

Slow-cooked balut waiting for a quick dip

Slow-cooked balut waiting for a quick dip

It would be a simplification to pass off balut as a “cooked, fertilized duck egg”. The operative term here is “fertilized”; although much of the hen fruit we consume has been fertilized by the rooster, the eggs are refrigerated quickly preventing the fetus from developing. With balut, candidate eggs are candled to find the ones blocking the light (an indication that there is a developing chick inside). As Mrs. Gump accurately opined, “Life is like a balut – you never know what you’re gonna get” – the eggs are incubated to varying degrees by location – the Filipinos enjoy theirs at a reasonable 14-day gestational period while the hardcore Vietnamese eat them up to 21 days after being laid. At the later stage in the egg’s development, all the features of the duck fetus are clearly visible (bill, feet and even tiny feathers); the yolk is interlaced with a network of tiny red veins, itself a discomforting sight. Clearly there is an opportunity here for the Easter Bunny to mete out justice to misbehaving rugrats by leaving something special in the Easter basket, ensuring that the air will be filled with cries not of joy, but of horror (Eddie Lin did just that in an Easter posting on his Deep End Dining web site). Like a box of Cracker Jack, there’s a prize inside every one, but I doubt little Timmy will be trading with his friends.

The beak is all that's left after the first bite

The beak is all that's left after the first bite

Although some Asian dishes substitute balut for raw egg, the general process for enjoying these protein-packed snacks is to eat them right out of the shell. The Municipality of Pateros in the heart of Manila is the epicenter of balut production; the name itself means “duck raisers” in the native Tagalog language and there are more street vendors selling these avian infants than anywhere else on earth. The shell is worked to remove a small cap from the top; the first step is to drink the “soup” (the thin fluid inside the egg) right out of the shell. A conservative application of salt, pepper, chili paste and/or vinegar is added and then the shell gradually removed bit by bit to allow generous bites. As an omnivorous consumer with no reservations about eating any of this planet’s life forms, I could easily bankrupt Fear Factor; however, I must admit here that my freshman attempt at eating balut involved ten to fifteen minutes of self-convincing before I took my first bite. Although I can now polish off one or two balut faster than Cronos downed his offspring, I was recently taken aback when after taking my first bite I noticed that Huey, Dewey or Louie’s beak was sitting on the top of the remainder of the egg with the rest of his head missing (presumably in my mouth). Once you become accustomed to eating balut, it’s make Way for Ducklings – it imparts a strong flavor that is a conglomerate of duck, rich egg yolk and offal with the flavor of whole duck soup. Although the taste isn’t off-putting, you may wish to forego eating what is left of the albumen, as it is usually reduced to a hard chunk (appropriately referred to as “the rock”) that offers the same dining experience as trying to masticate a Michelin steel-belted radial.

Halved and plated Scotch balut

Halved and plated Scotch balut

Although I favor traditional preparations and serving methods for most ethnic cuisine, I have taken balut to the next level, making an insidious version of the British treat, Scotch eggs (which could probably more accurately be called “deviled eggs”). Scotch eggs are simply hard boiled eggs, typically enveloped in ground pork sausage meat, painted with an egg wash, rolled in bread crumbs and then fried. The finished product is cleanly bisected to reveal concentric circles with a bright yellow yolk nucleus, surrounded by the white cooked albumen and rimmed on the outside with the brown sausage and fried coating. In the case of my hellish tribute, the balut served as the core, enveloped in ground duck sausage. I used raw unfertilized duck egg for the wash and rolled the ducky football in crushed crisp rice in an effort to translate the dish into Asian. After deep-frying to golden brown, the orbs were baked in the oven for about 15 minutes and then halved.

Asian street food - balut, basil and salt and pepper

Asian street food - balut, basil and salt and pepper

I wasn’t sure how the Scotch balut would turn out, but I knew as I sliced each through the center I would be creating and artistic work destined to be the talk of the dinner party and a subject for investigation by the authorities. As I only made a few, I ended up slicing them into much smaller sections after the party guests went back for seconds – at one point someone asked for a morsel “with more baby duck in it”. I never could have predicted the popularity of the dish, but was pleased that those in attendance were willing to try it and judge it primarily based on taste.

Balut isn’t a dish for the timid food adventurer, but once you’ve savored its rich bounty, the infanticide aspect isn’t quite so daunting. It’s a relatively cheap and easy snack, regarded by many as an aphrodisiac, although the odds of you getting lucky after consuming balut on date diminish as the likelihood is you’ll be left standing with egg on your face.

Special thanks to ExoticMeatMarkets.com for the duck sausage

GALLERY: Images of balut and Val’s creation, Scotch balut

VIDEO: Val makes Scotch balut for KCRW’s Good Food:

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Finer Diner

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Val

54 Twenty
Hollywood (Los Angeles), California

The newly-refurbished 54 Twenty in Hollywood

The newly-refurbished 54 Twenty in Hollywood

It’s a sweltering mid-morning in Hollywood; a man in a plaid short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans with frayed knees walks into a small diner that looks as though it has been pristinely preserved since the 1960s. As he makes himself comfortable in one of the red plush swivel chairs along the long faux-wood Formica counter top, he picks up a freshly printed paper menu and makes his selection from what at first glance appears to be a traditional diner menu. He requests the French toast and a cup of coffee, places his menu on the counter and quickly receives a sucker punch square against his jaw, his head awash in a myriad of stars – he has just been indoctrinated in a new traditionalism, the next wave of diner culture as imagined by Chef Kyle Schutte.

The decadent stuffed French toast

The decadent stuffed French toast

Chef Schutte has been plying his interpretation of molecular gastronomy since arriving in the Los Angeles area by way of Charlotte and Atlanta in 2010. While in residence in Marina del Rey’s Vū Restaurant, he was named by Angeleno Magazine as one of L.A.’s top young chefs to watch in 2011, although he admits that his experimental style was misunderstood in an area where the locals were complacent with chains such as Cheesecake Factory and Killer Shrimp – the texture and intense flavor of his sous vide eggs and other non-traditional takes on familiar items left them slightly confused. As Executive Chef at 54 twenty, Schutte applies those techniques to diner fare, turning that genre of cuisine on its ear. His heavy use of sous vide is borne partially out of the quality and flavor it imparts to the food and out of space considerations; since the every inch of space is open and exposed, storage considerations and appliances are at a minimum (several small freezers and refrigerators were installed around the cooking area with 54 Twenty depleting its inventory almost daily). Bread is the only staple that is not made in-house – everything else is handmade, right down to the ketchup. There is a small oven on the premises, but because resources don’t allow it to be turned down for some time, Chef Schutte  resorted to “sous viding” garlic for two hours in olive oil to compensate; when the result was tested he vowed never going back to roasting traditionally again.

The corned duck Ruben is an onslaught of flavor

The corned duck Ruben is an onslaught of flavor

The restaurant is attached to the Dixie Hollywood hotel, formerly a Days Inn; it spent the first half century or so of its life as Angel’s Diner. By the time owner Deepa Patel hired young gun Schutte as Executive Chef, the space was looking a bit long in the tooth, a shadow of its former self. Schutte gutted the room, tearing out booths and replacing them with a long, plush banquette wall bench and tables and demolishing the lowered ceiling to its original height to open the room up. For Schutte, working in the open environment is conducive to the personal style of customer service he had been known for even at Vū where it was not uncommon to see him working the room, talking to the patrons about the food and even bussing tables. 54 Twenty has been dubbed a “guestaurant”, and although the first inclination would be to assume the moniker referred to it being part of the hotel, Schutte explains that the industry term essentially describes a dining experience that is part dinner party, part intimate restaurant. For the time being the menu offers all-day brunch dining (through 9 PM); by request of patrons who arrive at the evening looking for dinner items, a tasting menu is planned for late in the fall that will feature 5 to 9 courses. 54 Twenty has not yet been granted a liquor license, but encourages diners to bring their own bottle.

Ketchup tomatoes crown the short rib burger

Ketchup tomatoes crown the short rib burger

The coffee beats the pants off the garden variety cuppa joe available at your neighborhood greasy spoon; their caffeinated staple is from local roasters Handsome Coffee Roasters. If you’re leaning towards the “br” side of brunch, Chef Schutte takes the familiar and re-engineers it into a unique breakfast experience; the steak and eggs features Paso Prime top sirloin cap coulotte sous vide in chimichurri with triple-cooked fries tossed in ketchup spice and sous vide-baked eggs; the off-menu bacon and eggs includes a 6-oz slab of Niman Ranch ham sous vide in maple syrup. The French toast is recognizable in name only – the massive wedge of bread is stuffed with cinnamon cream cheese and is positioned over a scrape of strawberry and thyme jam; a small container of syrup is placed on the side with an intoxicating blend of maple syrup infused with vanilla bean and star anise. To describe the dish gives the impression of a dentist’s nightmare, but the sweetness is cut by the flavors of the other ingredients; texture-wise, the softened cream cheese plays off the spongy quality of the bread and is complemented by the condiments.

A three egg omelet with Lamb Chopper sheep milk cheese, cheddar and arugula

A three egg omelet with Lamb Chopper sheep milk cheese, cheddar and arugula

The outstanding dish that raises a defiant finger to local delis, diners and drive-ins is the incomparable duck Reuben. Chef Schutte starts with free range duck from Mary’s (Pittman Family Farms) which is brined and then sous vide in the brine, after which the outside flesh is then seared. The top layer of the sandwich is populated with a pickled red cabbage that packs an explosion of equal parts sweet and sour – after finishing the sandwich it seems unfathomable to consume it without the slaw. A layer of gruyere cheese is added and the rye is then grilled and served with house-made potato chips. 54 Twenty has a slicer that shaves the potatoes razor-thin, but when the hardware becomes uncooperative they are sliced by hand; salt is added sparingly towards the end of the cooking process and the wispy chips are tossed with pastrami spice, resulting in a light-as-air potato wafer that dissolves on the tongue.

Unique touches accentuate traditional fare; the BLT is dubbed the “B³LT” as it features bacon three ways, including the bread being grilled in bacon fat; the short rib burger is capped with ketchup tomatoes (quartered Romas which are skinned before pickling with ketchup flavors) that keep the bun from turning into a soggy mess. 54 Twenty is changing the way we think of a slice of Americana that is going by the wayside, revitalizing and taking the cuisine to the next plateau; think of it as Guy Fieri with a pedigree.

54 Twenty
5420 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
GPS Coordinates: 34° 6’5.71″N 118°18’28.90″W

GALLERY: See images from Val’s visit to 54 Twenty in Hollywood, California

NOTE: This cost for this meal was provided by the restaurant. The content provided in this article was not influenced whatsoever by the organizer of the event.

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The Starry Night

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Val

Starry Kitchen Night at Tiara Café
Los Angeles, California

Starry Kitchen's infamous Crispy Tofu Balls

Starry Kitchen's infamous Crispy Tofu Balls

In the early days, Nguyen and Thi Tran ran an underground restaurant from the tiny confines of a North Hollywood apartment which was essentially a culinary speakeasy. As master of ceremonies and clown prince of cuisine, Nguyen would recruit patrons to dine in the cramped space while wife Thi whipped up imaginative Asian dishes behind the scenes several nights per week. In order to remain on the down-low, the Trans took donations from the diners in order to meet the cost of the ingredients. As with any juicy Hollywood scandal, word of the Trans’ dirty little secret spread, eventually resulting in them having to expand to a proper restaurant environment, an opportunity that was essentially dropped into their lap by a local restaurateur who wanted the give showman Nguyen and chef Thi (affectionately referred to as Kitchen Ninja) the opportunity to cater to a larger audience while turning his bistro’s flagging popularity around.

Savory pandan chicken wraps

Savory pandan chicken wraps

The new space in California Plaza became a quiet success, due in part to word of mouth, utilizing Twitter and Facebook, and Nguyen’s penchant for playing host decked out in a collection of costumes that at various points in time included a banana suit, Abraham Lincoln, Oktoberfest attire and even Darth Vader – the running gag at L.A.’s Street Food Fest annually was placing bets on who Nguyen would be portraying as he handed out Starry Kitchen’s award winning crispy tofu balls. Starry Kitchen has been experiencing growing pains as of late (a welcome curse in this economy), which led to the closing of their restaurant in July, to be re-opened later in the summer of 2012 in an adjacent property.

Malaysian chicken curry

Malaysian chicken curry

While the walls are going up at their new digs, the Trans have expanded as guest hosts at local watering hole and kitchen Tiara Café. For now, they’re stretching their legs after several Friends and Family test dinners but with positive feedback there is a possibility that Starry Kitchen Night at Tiara Café could end up calendared as a regular event. It’s difficult to say what menu items will carry over and which new items will test out, but based on my attendance at one of the Friends and Family dinners it should prove to be a diverse and interesting culinary adventure. When Nguyen is holding court, anything can (and usually does happen); the F-bombardier and consummate entertainer is likely to show up at tableside with his legendary balls in his hand. On my visit he adopted a joke punch line from Josie Mora (Uncouth Gourmands) and answered almost every question with an emphatic, “Why is your penis on your face?” Guests were trying to determine what the masquerade du jour was a tribute to, as Nguyen was draped in a custom-tailored black striped silk suit and matching tie, but it turns out that the joke was on the patrons as he was simply dressed to the nines.

Crispy and moist clay pot sea bass

Crispy and moist clay pot sea bass

The cuisine covered a wide swath of Asian geography with menu nods to Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore; of course, no meal at Starry Kitchen would be complete without the perennial favorite, SK’s own Crispy Tofu Balls. These Kryptonite green globes are fried to a coated with crisp rice and fried to a crackly crunch, while the warm silky tofu inside was similar in taste and texture to a firm ricotta cheese.  Skewers of coarsely ground beef nestled in sesame leaves were presented themselves as an Asian version of dolmas; the leaves added flavor without turning the dish into a ruminant’s paradise. Starry Kitchen featured a vegetable worthy of Nguyen’s reputation – grilled Chinese eggplant, its charred, purple skin removed with the exception of a small mushroom-shaped patch of flesh left intact at the end, giving the vegetable an unmistakable phallic appearance and making it the perfect accouterment to pair with his balls.

The rather phallic-looking roast eggplant

The rather phallic-looking roast eggplant

The entrees offered were exemplary; while the other ingredients in a noodle dish with dried shrimp and rib eye all but obscured the pasta, one could overlook the noodles as simply something for all that wet complex and exciting flavor to cling to. The chicken curry was mild and tender done up Malaysian-style with the heat dropped a few notches; the beige curry was sturdy and lovingly enveloped each morsel of chicken, with chunks of potato darting about to add a contrast in texture and act as a nice starchy foil. In a battle for mealtime supremacy, a striped bass dish prepared in clay pot with a thin, caramelized crust and accented with pancetta vied for top honors against a Singaporean chili crab with an arsenal of rich, red, spicy sauce firing both barrels. Although the partially cracked and dismembered crustacean required some work to get at the meat inside, the highlight was the sauce – chunks of bread custom-baked for Starry Kitchen (for its absorption properties) stood at the ready for mop-up detail, and getting every drop of the zesty, fiery fluid required a second order of baked goods.

The drink of choice for the evening was a vodka-spiked lemonade served Elvis-style that allowed imbibers to drink their liquor from an old fruit jar; it seemed that each round packed a bit more punch, with the first glass betraying nary a hint of alcohol. If the pre-opening events are any indication what the atmosphere and cuisine will be like after opening night, then Starry Kitchen is adding a new chapter to the colorful story of an eatery with humble roots as a clandestine apartment restaurant. My advice – get over there and put the balls to the wall.

Starry Kitchen (old location)
350 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90071
GPS Coordinates: 34° 3’5.79″N 118°15’6.81″W

Tiara Café
127 East 9th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
GPS Coordinates: 34° 2’27.93″N 118°15’15.64″W

GALLERY: See images from Val’s visit to Starry Kitchen Night at Tiara Café in downtown Los Angeles, California

NOTE: This cost for this meal was provided by the restaurant. The content provided in this article was not influenced whatsoever by the organizer of the event.

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