Lalalalalala (the brain pondering LA Trip Part II/II four days later)

I am streaming KCRW's Raul Campos' show from last night.  This dude plays awesome and eclectic progressive mixes! Now he has begun to play "Paris," this mesmerizing piece by Friendly Fires that I blast on my iPod when I am about to collapse on the elliptical machine and need a boost.

I should be sleeping now.  But the reason I write this even though it is late is because--dammit!-- I have to write this now or I will never do it.  

It is only the second day back at work from a two-week holiday recess yet my trip to LA, just four days ago, has nearly escaped me completely. It was like it happened....months ago.  Worklife and routines have taken over and shoved my memories into tight, hard-to-access corners of my brain.

It hasn't even been a week!

After Pasadena last Thursday, I headed to West Hollywood to Real Food Daily, which has been on my LA restaurant list for nearly two years now.  (After much agonizing, I had cancelled my reservation at Lucques in exchange for hitting up two or three casual restaurants, including M Cafe--a place I fell in love with in Culver City--and maybe the larder at Tavern--owned by Suzanne Goin, also of Lucques.)

Real Food Daily, which is a few doors from Trashy Lingerie Offices (trashy.com) and across the street from a bunch of furniture stores, was getting busy at 6pm.  I had the "TV Dinner," which was really like a frozen TV dinner, without the aluminum tray.  It was good. I was in a meaty mood and this fit the bill, vegan style.

I used to beg my mother to buy me TV dinners from the frozen food aisle. Much better: Real Food Daily's "TV Dinner."  

Next up was M Cafe. I drove by the West Hollywood location, which disappointed me because of how puny it looked, so I headed to the Beverly Hills restaurant.  I had visions in my head of the Culver City place which so captivated me for its spaciousness, bright natural lighting, communal table and, menus, written on chalkboards...  I was horrified to learn that it was gone.  

RIP M Cafe Culver City.  Spacious, airy, clean, organic.

Japanese tray with black cod. (M Cafe, Culver City)

 Blueberry buckwheat pancakes.  Pancakes you don't have to feel guilty about eating. (M Cafe, Culver City)

I want a repeat of this breakfast. (M Cafe, Culver City)

People chillin' at the communal table. (M Cafe, Culver City)

But like the Westho location, the Beverly Hills restaurant was also small. It also was barren. There wasn't a soul in there except the manager and some guy sweeping the floor!  Meh.  And the limited offerings behind the glass case were hardly appetizing.  But I got the kale in peanut sauce, which turned out to be tasty, and a Babycakes gingerbread cupcake, which at $4.94 was by far the most expensive cupcake I have ever had.  It was excellent, but I have since vowed to never pay such money again for a cupcake.  

[I am listening to Raul Campos' show live now. He is now playing Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street! KCRW is a godsend. Absolute renegade radio. Ok, I just found out that Gerry Rafferty died recently. Still, you'd never hear a DJ playing his tunes on a commercial alternative station.]  

The gingerbread flavor tasted a bit medicinal--maybe it was clove, but it wasn't just ginger.  I still liked it very much and could not believe it was vegan!

Delicious faux cream cheese icing, and gingerbread with a bite.

After M Cafe in windy Beverly Hills, which felt like a ghost town, I headed to meet my bro in Studio City, at Jinya, the new ramen-ya that Jonathan Gold likes.  I was in a foul mood when I arrived. Due to a communications mix-up, I had been sitting in a parking lot for at least twenty minutes before I discovered that my brother was already inside and had finished his first course.  

Apparently my frustration showed because the waitstaff there, while courteous, kept their distance from me. No one asked me what I wanted or offered me a menu despite that I had settled into the chair at the bar counter next to my brother, who was being served. I faced a bunch of disarming Asian and Latino dudes in black t-shirts quietly but industriously preparing food  behind the counter.  I could hear customers behind me coming and going. The place was bustling at 10pm on a weekday night and the aroma of ramen broth was seductive. But I was not hungry.  TV dinner was still digesting in my middle.

After a while, one of the shaggy-haired Japanese dudes, who wore his cap backwards, started chatting with my brother and me.  I cannot remember what he asked us initially. But before long we were engaged in conversation about Jonathan Gold's review of his place (how often did Jonathan Gold come by? We asked. Oh, several times, he said), how the review spiked up business for him, and how he is planning on opening up more shops soon. He is prospecting, he said...he told us he was from Tokyo...how fun it was to be talking to the manager of this rising-star of a place!  My stress...was gone.

I realized later that those moments are what I live for.  Cozy chats with strangers about food.  

Sushi from Jinya.

And the rest I will have to get to tomorrow or the weekend because my eye lids are getting heavy.

By the way, I watched 45 minutes of "Julie & Julia" the other day. Am I to believe that Julie has a stressful job in which she has to listen all day to wrenching complaints by victims of 9/11 and then has the energy to whip up Julia Child's meals and THEN blog about them? And that she does this every night?  It makes me feel like a complete loser.  Oh yeah this is a Nora Ephron movie. 

With that, I seriously need to get to bed.  But one last thought: I look forward to actually eating at Jinya next time the ramen noodles that Jonathan Gold reports "are long, springy, resilient to the bite, soaking up just enough broth to become almost part of it yet retaining a sort of wheaty integrity of their own."


Yes, indeed.  

Shoki

2675 24th St

Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 454-2411

Reviewed 12/27/2008

Talk about turning into a Ramen-Maniac.

LOVED this place. You will too if you like simplicity, authenticity, and tiny, worn interiors where informational flyers are posted up with Scotch tape.

Service: delightfully friendly and cordial; gentle-Japanese without being overbearing and formal.

Noodles: damn good. Loved the chewy texture.

Broth: Shio was seasoned, giving it a bit of spunkiness.

Portions: Excellent. Large actually is large.

Misc: The tuft of steamed cabbage nesting in my noodles was fresh and tender rather than cooked to death.

Can't think of a better meal on a cold day.

To the Shoki staff: Gochi-soh-sama!

Daikokuya

327 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-1680
www.dkramen.com

Reviewed 1/3/2008

Nevermind the ramen for a moment. Even if the ramen sucked, there would be reasons to go here:

1. Cabbage salad
2. Gyoza--thick, crusty and fried brown on top
3. Constant line of patrons, mostly Asian--good sign for an Asian joint (likely you will be waiting too, but when you get seated, you'll feel smug and triumphant)
4. Japanese staff (very big for me that the staff be of the same ethnicity as the food it is serving)
5. "Keanu Reeves"
6. Godzilla perched up on the ledge on the doorway

The main reason to go to Daikokuya is of course the ramen, which is divine. The place offers only one kind of ramen, served up two ways: one in which the noodles come in the broth, the other in which the ramen and broth come in separate bowls. Daikokuya does have other menu options, like rice bowls and sushi sides, but it's all about its one version of ramen. (Don't ask me why hiyashi ramen is featured on their website. Maybe it's offered in the summer?)

I recommend ordering the broth and ramen in separate bowls if you, like me, must have your ramen al dente when eating, with scallions and bean sprouts unwilted. With this option, be willing to risk your broth turning a little lukewarm before the meal is over. No matter--you'll be too content to care.

The ramen I had was perfect in texture--tender but slightly chewy--and wonderfully fragrant. The creamy, sesame-colored broth is so damned good that it's easy to forget yourself and just slurp it up like a dog, head in bowl.

I don't eat pork, but had to try it since it came with the ramen and everything else was giving me food bliss (including the pork broth). It was incredibly flavorful, as adoring fans will agree.

When "Keanu Reeves" swaggered by (he was one of the multi-racial waiters who could alternate between perfectly accented Japanese and American English in one breath), my dinner companion placed an order for cabbage salad--finely shredded cabbage with Japanese-style Thousand Island dressing. Not knowing what it was initially, I demurred. But I ended up trying his and not letting him have any. This salad transforms a rubbery vegetable into a simple but amazing delicacy.

We came here on New Year's Eve, before it closed at 8PM. It was a satisfying way to begin ringing in the new year--fat-and-happy in the company of other fat-and-happy patrons. It didn't matter that we didn't know these people. There was an earthy, communal feel to the worn-in place. Glancing occasionally at the statue of Godzilla looming above the doorway, I was in ramen heaven.