L.C.'s Barbeque 5800 Blue Parkway Kansas City, MO 64129 816-923-4484
No real point in writing about the other pitmasters that we tried (Bandana from St. Louis, Parise from Los Angeles) because the main event at the Los Angeles BBQ Festival, curiously located off the Santa Monica Pier, was L.C.'s Barbeque. . . with a Metal Shop soundtrack.
The (fake) hair band played a two hour set that almost spanned our wait for meaty goodness. We were naive when we saw the line for L.C.'s and thought, "Let's check out the other stands and then come back." But the queue for 'cue had not diminished. We were amused by Bon Jovi and Guns N Roses covers and enjoyed the ocean breezes while slowly easing toward the overworked pits.
When we finally made it to the front, it was mesmerizing to watch the women hack at the sticky smoldering slabs on the butcher block. The saucy ribs and rib tips were worth the wait--tender, with just enough chewiness and crunchy charred bits. And, oh, the smoke! The aroma of leftovers lingered in the car and the house and made the lunchroom salivate the next day.
No fireworks for Delicacheena, but lots of good food, at least for UE, INK and cohorts (JM is in the wilderness).
BLD was closed on the 4th so we drove north to Village Idiot: hot-off-the-something BBQ ribs special with greens and cornbread, salmon on soba noodles, flaky veggie pie, "cheeky halves" of Heavenly Hef and Nectar of the Gods to quaff, apricot triple sec bread pudding, glorious peach shortcake.
Saturday included the dependable Clementine and finally BLD with standout special nectarine salad of spinach, chickpea fritters and ricotta. Eating all the seasonal stone fruits!
Today was about our inner cheena. Din Tai Fung: juicy pork dumplings, fried rice almost like Dad's, perfectly round and fluffy red bean bao. And taro and almond milk tea bobas from Tea Station
UPDATE: For dinner, after visiting BP and MH and the new baby. . . French bulldog, we head down Lincoln to KC's Crepes near LMU: crunchy sweet chili chicken with basil and greens, Margherita, and caramel vanilla crunch.
Back in September, Delicacheena visited the traveling bake sale known as Treat Street. Not as well as hidden as previous sales, UE and JM met up with TW to grab some Back To School treats. Among our favorites: PB&J Sandwich cookies, Expresso Cookies and Reese's Cup. Though we were able to purchase most of the treats, we were surprised at how fast the items were selling out. Treat Street is no longer a secret whispered among dessert fanatics. Delicacheena will have their dollars ready when the next location is posted. Stay tuned!
La Taquiza 3009 S Figueroa St Los Angeles, CA 90007 (213) 741-9795
Delicacheena loves attending conferences at 'SC because it's the best university ever, but it doesn't hurt that La Taquiza is just a bit north of campus. This place has been around forever or at least since we lived on 30th St which was long, long ago. Nice to see the restaurant in a L.A. Times article about aguas frescas the following week.
Come to me tacos al pastor y carne asada con salsa rojo and a sprinkle of cilantro and onions! Carne asada is just-right tender and juicy. The pork is smoky sweet and melts in your mouth. They give you two kinds of salsa for to-go orders, but there are more options in the salsa bar. The red salsa is hot without numbing your tongue; the green is that watery avocado (I think) stuff that you get at some places, but it was a nice slightly creamy contrast to the heat, meat and grease (grease equals flavor).
I guess there are other great items to consume (TW raves about the mulitas), but I'm here to wax nostalgic about the tacos of my past. I order four at a buck and half each. Don't you want to bite into these fat babies? Bits of meat tumble out when you hoist them to your mouth, but don't let any of them get away. Savor each mouthful.
Hole in the Wall 11058 Santa Monica Blvd. (Behind the Winchell's) Los Angeles, CA 90025 310-312-3632
Carvel Ice Cream 11037 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 310-444-0011
We blame ourselves for the demise of Dainties. A half dozen about every month, was that the best we could do? Of course not. We didn't step up and now the best cupcakes ever are never more.
Now we have vowed singlebloggedly to raise the awareness of our favorite cupcake chef's newest endeavor and to assure that Hole in the Wall is with us for years to come. So, come on and eat their burgers already!
Delicacheena knows it's hot sitting on the parking spots with just some umbrellas for protection and there are countless high and low end burgers out there. But you know you can replace one of you meals from a box or a lousy chain with a juicy half pound of beef, turkey or veggie patty.
It's a build-you-own affair. There are checklists like at the Counter, but far more simplified. Choose your meat or lack-there-of, bun or bowl, cheese and mayo. Decide if you want all, some or none of the lettuce, red onion, tomato and house made zucchini pickles. Extras include apple wood smoked bacon, avocado, roasted peppers, sauteed onions, fried egg and sauteed mushrooms. There are packets of ketchup, mustard and Tapatio. Sweet potato or regular fries? They're both thick, crisp, hot and fresh-tasting and one order is enough for three.
The beef is juicy and, well, beefy. The meat was cooked the way we like it: medium. The fried egg is perfectly cooked, not rubbery, not runny. Had she known about the roasted peppers, TW would have paid the extra price to add it to her burger order.
The turkey burger is peppery, not as juicy as the beef, but moist and hearty. The chewy pretzel bun holds up well to the slippery mix of meat, provolone cheese, and cranberry mayo. On another visit, the chipotle mayo with its bite is more prominent than the the cranberry mayo.
The veggie burger tastes of smoky black beans and corn. The whole wheat honey is slightly sweet. Sans bun, this patty is the best choice for the burger bowl. Throw a fried egg, sauteed onions, provolone cheese, and mushrooms on a bed of red leaf lettuce and this truly becomes a very tasty salad.
We leave stuffed; the savory side of our stomachs satisfied, but the sweet side was a little sad. We ventured across the street to Carvel Ice Cream where we were able to calm our sweets craving. While we worked on our haiku, we reflected on the loss of the cupcake that should have been.
But maybe,if chef and co-owner William Dertouzos regains a little faith in the Los Angeles consumers, just maybe he'll feel we're worthy of his cupcakes again.
The Cobbler Lady 3854 Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90008-1821 323-298-2144 323-298-2148 contactus@cobblerlady.com
When a co-worker commented, "I haven't had cobbler in a long time," JM took it as a challenge. She would bring the best cobbler anyone had ever tasted to their friend's weekend barbecue!
On a sweltering first day of summer, we drove down Crenshaw to the Cobbler Lady in a strip mall near a Ralph's. We picked up a medium cherry, a medium peach, a mini apple, red velvet cake and a couple of cupcakes.
When it finally cooled off, UE and INK each bought a scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins. The refrigerated mini cobbler was stuck in the indispensable toaster oven (who could bear to turn on the regular oven in this heat even at 10:30 at night?) for several minutes. We don't know if it would have been just as good right from the store, but fresh from the toaster the crust was crisp and flaky. The apples were chunky, not mushy, not gooey as the fruit in cobblers often are. And the pastry was made all the better with the butter pecan and Heath Bar ice cream.
We don't know how everything else went over at the barbecue earlier that day, but we were happy with 31 Flavors and our toaster oven.
Violet's Cakes 21 East Holly Street Pasadena, CA 91103 626 395 9821 626 395 9571
INK managed to find metered parking on the opposite corner of the block and had enough change for seven minutes so she speed-walked to the quaint Violet's. There were a couple of tables outside and inside and the open kitchen dominated the space. A couple had a platter of cupcakes, sampling flavors for their upcoming nuptials. The display case would definitely take longer than seven minutes to ponder.
After waiting a day, INK was too eager to eat to remember photos. It was Father's Day and she hoped the ten cupcakes would be up to par: elvis, chocolate strawberry,oreo, blueberry, vanilla, banana , almond joy, toffee, brownie bomb, red velvet. Delicacheena has a reputation to uphold after all. Even after being refrigerated overnight, the $2.50 cakes were very moist and true to their flavor (except for the very subtle toffee). The frostings were also not merely sweet, although they were that, but tasted of fresh and real ingredients like butter and Valrhona Chocolate. Favorites of the group were the blueberry which was not just a glorified muffin, the elvis for the banana and peanut butter fans, simple vanilla and red velvet with cream cheese frosting.
Violet's is no Dainties with ethereal whipped cream. . . but at least they're not Sprinkles either.
