Say goodbye to the summer. . .

Well, the summer's officially over and it's back to pushing paper. But the reminiscing lingers. Soon you can read about Delicacheena's European vacation (bratwurst and beer!), INK in NYC and various other meals to remember. . . or to try to forget.


In the meantime, have the gyro salad and spanakopita at
Papa Cristo's.
2771 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Phone: (323) 737-2970 -- Fax: (323) 737-3571

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.

Been There, Ate That. . . too

JiRaffe--Probably the first place we had an amuse bouche. Ahh, INK's foot-themed meal: trout with peeky toe crab and black foot chanterelles. Why don't we go back?

Hungry Cat--Decadent lobster roll, heart-breaking chocolate souffle/creme brulee/bread pudding, few tables. Gotta try the creative cocktails.

!Loteria!--Because you can't always go to San Diego when you get a hankering for potato tacos.

Apple Pan--Burger, fries and apple pie ala mode. Or banana cream. Wonder which of the four veteran servers will be working our side of the counter. No nonsense, cash only.

My Secret Recipe--When you want oodles of spicy little octopi cooked in front of you in Koreatown. Believe them when they say medium is spicy. Wish the rice came at the beginning; like we said, it's spicy. Enjoyed the pa jun, fried pancake with more octopus and lots of green onion.

Bread Bar--Of course, that first visit during its early days was the best because they gave INK a free bag full of brioche and croissants.

Caprice--Don't really remember the French mini pastries too well. It's the experience of ringing the doorbell and either a tall, skinny guy with an accent lets you into the kitchen with large metal tray upon tray of delights. Or its a young woman or Caprice, himself, who will regale you about his youth in Provence. Sometimes its one on one. Other times there is a row of cooks with pastry bags in the background. They're all in their chef whites and they all offer free samples!

Tia Juana's--Soft tacos, so-good-must-be-bad refried beans and rice, handmade tortillas.