Dotty for Cupcakes

Dot's Cupcakes
400 S. Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
626.568.DOTS

You don't have to go far before bumping into a cupcake nowadays. The It dessert has been popping up in bakeries all over Los Angeles for the past few years. There's the giant red velvet and coconut beauties from Auntie Em's. When they're on one of the pedestals at Clementine, order a coconut or double chocolate with cream filling. We were disappointed by the dryness of the popular Sprinkles cupcakes. Joan's on Third offers their elegant version on most days. The mini cupcakes at Beechwood are adorable. Le Cupcake has a location in Washington D.C. and one in Santa Monica Place and definitely looks like a chain, albeit a cute one, but the cupcakes in several flavors are tres bien. And there's many more that we haven't visited. . . yet.

Dot's Cupcakes opened in Pasadena last November. Delicacheena spied Dot's on Arroyo Seco while waiting for the light to change. We made a mental note to visit the tiny shop just south of Houston's. During the Saturday afternoon before Easter, there were only vanilla vanilla cupcakes left in the display case. People with pre-orders were picking up large white boxes with the Dot's sticker and we had a tinge of jealousy. The young women in the shop were able to round up some chocolate chocolate and red velvet for us. Did we seem that desperate?

The frosting was applied in a thick swirl similar to Le Cupcake, but with a sugar candy placed in the middle of the vanilla and chocolate varieties. All three types of the $2.75 cupcakes passed the critical moistness test. Each had a pleasant "crust" on the top--they were not overcooked, but had something for the teeth to bit into--adding to the feeling that they were homemade, not assembly line clones. The vanilla cake had a nice butter and vanilla flavor. The on-line menu (no paper ones are available) said that they had Madagascar bourbon and Tahitian vanilla, although we couldn't taste the bourbon. The chocolate cake, by far UE's favorite, was exceedingly moist and soft-textured, but INK was unsure she liked the taste of the cake by itself. JM said it was like "from a box," The frosting was rich and chocolatey. The tender red velvet cake was complemented by the cream cheese frosting. The chocolate and red velvet even kept their moistness the following day. The frosting could have been APPLIED with a lighter hand and been less sweet, but these are cupcakes after all and would go well with milk or coffee.

Dearly Departed

Fond memories of:

Norman's--Pig and paella on Friday nights, beautiful setting, friendly waitstaff, mojitos, flambeed banana split prepared tableside consumed in 2 minutes.

Amuse--Little yellow house with Brooke Williamson's market-fresh meals and chocolate mint ice cream sandwich in a skillet. Much more quaint than Beechwood.

Oplaline--Green walls and dessert trios in the ever-changing spot that now houses BLD.

Mago's--Little Hawaiian joint with the tender teriyaki beef on a stick.

Rocco--Luxurious Millionaire's Pasta and refreshing strawberries with balsamic. Luckily the chef is now at old-school Matteo's.

Moustache Cafe in Westwood--Now where are we going to get late-night chocolate/Grand Marnier souffle?

Posh on Pico--Slow, but friendly service. . .tres leches.

Country Market Cafe--Just drove past the place that had great sandwiches and a little gourmet market. Wish it had kept the dinner hours. Pitfire Pizza, a thin-crust place that we ate at downtown, is going to fill the void.

As good as Portugal?

Natas Pastries
13317 Ventura Blvd. Suite D
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
818-788-8050

After a week of non-stop egg-based pastries in Portugal this past summer, we (we weren't even Delicacheena, yet) wondered if we'd ever have natas again. Pasteis de natas are literally cream pastries. They are like little egg custard pies or the Chinese dan tats, but much less eggy than both. They were found in every corner bakery and snack shop. The best were our first in the Belem district of Lisbon, warm from the oven at Casa Pasteis de Belem. (While in Belem, be sure to check out the Coach Museum--the simple to ostentatious carriages, not handbags, are fascinating.)

Would Natas Pastries, a bakery in the valley (might as well fly to Europe), recreate our summer of custard? Unfortunately, a hoard of Portuguese ex-pats via San Diego bought out all the bacalhau, fried salt cod cakes--they're better than they sound. But we tried just about every other baked and fried tidbit.

Alas the natas were not as we remembered. Is anything ever? The crust was crisper instead of tender, flaky layers. The custard we couldn't agree on. JM thought it was too eggy. The queijadas, always touted as mini cheesecakes, but nothing like we envision in the States, contained much more cinnamon than the ones we purchased in beautiful Sintra. The quite ugly ground beef and chorizo croquetes were tasty but half of one was enough. The malasadas, basically a sugar doughnut minus the hole, was dry--not like the ones INK had in Hawaii. The best offering was the morgado, a not-too-sweet crumbley almond dough filling in a crust.

Perhaps we'll return to Portugal someday, but until then, we'll just have to imagine standing at the pastry case, sipping something cool and biting into a warm nata.

Food with Your Music, Music with Your Food

What's more important to Delicacheena, food or music? That would take more time and space than we have. Plus we'd lose half of our audience (ha ha). Here's a list of places where we can/could indulge both passions. However, "we're not talking fine dining."

The Echo --Nothing like chicken fingers on New Year's Eve. Booths around the perimeter.

The El Rey --Wolfgang Puck's cafe. JM will share her BBQ chicken pizza with you. Chairs and some tables along wall. Don't know what more is upstairs.

The Hotel Cafe --Remember when it was actually a cafe where you could get coffee and panini? They got their beer and wine license some time ago. Lots of tables since the expansion, but can you still get food?

Largo --(Usually) must order full meal if you sit at the reserved tables. Honey chicken? One of Delicacheena's favorite little locations because big mouths are not allowed, in the audience that is.

The Roxy --Garden burger with fries. Comfy raised booths. Depends on how many spots are reserved for the connected. Otherwise you can juggle a drink and a plate of fries right in front of the band.

Temple Bar --Small venue, selection of tea(!) and plantain quesadillas. Plenty of tables and cushy seating.

Spaceland --We've seen a guy with a cooler of tamales and we are willing to try someday, but don't tell the vendor police. Bar stools and tables, booths are usually occupied by the merch folks.

The Troubadour --For the longest time we thought we were just imagining the aroma of fries, but there really is a bitty kitchen in the corner behind the bar in the main room. A typical snack bar with gum, candy, dogs, fresh veggie plate. Fair amount of bar stools, some with tables. Another favorite venue--small with character and history and we can always find street parking.

The Wiltern --We smell the freshly baked frozen cookies, but we haven't partaken of the expensive treat. (Don't like that they don't manage their own website anymore, but are part of Live Nation.)

When Live Instruments Are Not Necessary:
Arena--Haven't been there in awhile, but it was nice to know you could cool off outside with a taco or burger in Arena's Giant and Spundae days. Circus Disco is there Saturday nights now, but Delicacheena feels funny about putting a link. . .

The Golden Gopher Bar --Decent jukebox and the table placards list places that will DELIVER to the bar. Plus there's the convenience-store-like front counter.

Mel's Drive-In --If you went there on karaoke night at the Hollywood Location, you might have heard JM and INK performing Squeeze while you ate your wet fries. Now there's a DJ late Friday and Saturday nights.

Palms Thai --Thai Elvis, anyone? Visit the bakery located in the same strip mall.

Outdoors:

Greek Theater --Bummer, you can't BYO anything, but there is food for purchase: ubiquitous chicken fingers, Pink's dogs, etc.

Hollywood Bowl --Everyone knows about the brilliance of the Bowl. Patina Group knows its way around outdoor dinning. Of course, can be as simple or elaborate as the meal you choose to bring. Haven't had the privilege of box seats. There are benches and tables outside the amphitheater, but its better to eat, hear and see "inside".

Ford Amphitheatre --Cute little guy to the Bowl's big-time sophisticate. We brought sandwiches from Susina and bought wine at the Ford. Such a pretty jewel with the bucolic hillside behind the stage and the stars above. The rain came later.

Food for Thought

[Sorry, these links have expired.]

Food in Politics and Culture

Read about cloned beef in the LA Times. Mark Peel of Campanile prepared a special double blind test meal for a panel invited by the newspaper.

Don't eat the paintings. Joe Bravo paints on tortillas.

Take your hands off our bacon dogs AKA Tijuana dogs. The plight of LA street vendors is covered here

please standby

When Delicacheena gets its act together, you can read posts about Natas Pastries, Hatfield's and 3 Square.