L-R: al pastor, chorizo+cheese, mahi-mahi

yes, please. mas tacos. the westside isn’t really known for its taco trucks. m heard that tacos por favor is an excellent taqueria so i indulged myself today since i just happened to be in that neighborhood. i ordered a mahi-mahi, al pastor, and the chorizo + cheese that is recommended on chowhound here, here and here.

the mahi mahi was pretty good – had diced green chiles on it. the al pastor was dry and tasted vinegar-y to me. not my favorite tender, spicy al pastor. i saved the chorizo + cheese for last because it was the least delicate in flavor but i’m not sure that was a good idea. now i have this big cheesy rock sitting in my stomach. but it was good, and i’ve never had a chorizo + cheese taco before. i would order it again. and i’m sure it’s best when it’s eaten right away. i only live a few blocks away but by the time i got home and ate the other two, the cheese had definitely solidified.

i finished eugenia kim’s the calligrapher’s daughter yesterday and started barbara kingsolver’s food memoir today. i am plowing through books like i just discovered the written word (having time to read on the bus helps). i’m only 20 pages into this new book and i’m hooked. granted, i’m a willing audience: i shop and adore my farmers’ market, i try to use as few bags/sacks/plastic as possible, i recycle, i believe in reusable everything (travel mugs, silverware, tupperware, fixing the appliance rather than buying new), and i grow my own herbs and produce in my small urban planters as often as i can. so ms. kingsolver and her family have already convinced me of their message and the way she writes is just the topping on the cake. if i didn’t already care so much about locally grown food, she could convince me with little resistance.

www.animalvegetablemiracle.com

RGG+SGG helped us with our #2/99 restaurants: terroni. south italian cuisine. sadly, no pictures this time so how can i best convey the fresh tomato and basil of SGG’s dish, the perfect crust on RGG’s ‘za con funghi, my earthy porcinis with handmade/homemade tagliatelle noodles, and, well, m’s capunti w/ lamb (that should’ve been a linguine w/ clam dish, but she just couldn’t decide). according to jgold, we really should’ve ordered espresso but we had to jet to the bowl for pink martini (!).

terroni was good, i’d go back. a bit too loud, eclectic interior design, an extensive menu, reasonable italian food (which i find peculiarly hard to find in lalaland). but the real highlight of the evening was pink martini. O.M.G. they are soooooo great in concert. the bowl performance was even better than their new years’ eve performance at the disney concert hall. china forbes has a fabulous voice – so deep and clear; thomas lauderdale is so dopey and cute and geeky and talented. my favorite pieces were u plavu zoru with pansy chang on cello, their live version of amado mio, cante e dance (my new favorite PM song) and the first encore featuring a pianist and her violinist husband. wow. they have a new album releasing in october and i can’t get my hands on it fast enough.

terroni | 7605 Beverly Blvd 90036 | 323.954.0300

for the past 5 years, i’ve pooh-poohed the santa monica wednesday farmers’ market as being expensive and overly crowded and having poor quality produce. which is crazy, because many top chefs shop here and there’s a cookbook featuring many of the farmers who sell their goods here. i attribute my skepticism to my obsessive devotion to the hollywood farmers market. change is hard for me. today, i changed my mind about the SMFM. no, it’s not cheap (although i did get some persian cukes for $2/lb which is rare), but i found some of my favorite vendors and discovered some new ones to which i will return.

for example, burkhart (s side of arizona btwn 3rd and 2nd – most of the good vendors are here) had jujubes today and will have them again for 5-6 weeks. they also had grapes, but i found a new grape vendor – not my hollywood guy – he is scott farms from dinuba, ca. he had 4-5 different varieties and i sampled 1 green and 1 red: the sweet scarlet grapes were firm and not too sweet. i nabbed a few bunches and i also got those tiny green grapes that i love so much – also firm and not too sweet. i tried some red grapes at another vendor, but waaaaayyy too sweet. can’t remember where he was located exactly…but the guy behind the table also works for burkhart.

north of arizona on 2nd is coleman farms. we bought shishito peppers and juliet tomatoes from them last week. i purchased the peppers again today. their smell is so strong they fill my grocery bag with peppery goodness. i can smell them now. too bad the internet isn’t scratch and sniff.

peacock farms, also from dinuba, ca, had early girl tomatoes. i asked if they were dry-farmed but she didn’t know what i was talking about. i bought them anyway. i explained that dry farming is when the roots find their own water source. i failed to mention that this kind of farming makes them way sweeter, but maybe i piqued her interest. if i develop a relationship with this farmer, maybe i can get them to dry farm a crop. :) peacock farms also has lots of great produce – many different kinds in all different colors. i think i will return.

lastly, i found yali pears for $2/lb. that’s significantly cheaper than $4/lb at the ferry plaza in sf. we’ll see just how good/authentic they are.

so, all in all, a successful venture. i only spent $26 and can pretty much guarantee that everything in the picture/on the table will both look beautiful and taste amazing.

and then i spent $80 at sm seafood for my gumbo experiment tonight. which will also, hopefully, be beautiful and amazing.

(not to be confused with facebook, schmacebook.) i just spontaneously decided to make some rice. it may have something to do with our new rice cooker. so easy. so tasty. (who needs twitter when you can just update your own blog? i keep thinking i want to twitter…but just can’t commit yet.)

i was soooo excited to blog last night about our first of 99 restaurants: susan feniger’s street showcasing street food from around the world. then we got rearended on wilshire @ veteran so we got home dazed and sore and today we are still dazed and sore but determined to get on with our lives.

LCR accompanied us on this street food venture. he was a bit skeptical, but we suckered him into it anyway (we seem to be able to drag him along to lots of places). it may have something to do with the fact that he was distracted by his new blackberry (who wouldn’t be? distracted by a blackberry, that is, not necessarily LCR’s new blackberry). sorry, i digress. blackberry does that to me.

we started off with the kaya toast (singaporean; toast w/ coconut jam, soft boiled egg, and soy sauce) and even coconut-hatin LCR thought it was mighty tasty. it was probably my favorite dish.

at the same time, we feasted on the borscht with potato pampushki. the borscht was pretty good. not authentic in my opinion, but the pampushki was tasty and i’m not a big fan of potatoes (but am slowly becoming one, i think, as evidenced by m’s potato, sage, bacon, buttermilk, aged cheddar, chives dish).

next up: the vada dumplings. honestly, i can’t remember what the dumplings tasted like. a little doughnut-y but not sweet. good, but not memorable.

third wave: the moldavian meatballs. whoa! very tasty. this was my second favorite. full of flavor.

lastly, the entrees: tatsutage chicken (swimming in spicy mayo with a soggy crust, but soba noodles, seaweed, and tofu was good) and the spicy peanut noodles (won’t knock your sox off but will satisfy the peanut noodle craving).

tatsutage chicken

spicy peanut noodles

as for libation, LCR enjoyed his iced chrysanthemum mint tea and m enjoyed her chocolate/mint/rooibos hot tea concoction.

i am not the best person to report on the desserts as i wasn’t too keen on either the egyptian basbousa cake or the triple layer espresso/chocolate/halva. both too big and too sweet.

basbousa cake

espresso/chocolate/halva

i suppose this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the starter. some places give you beer nuts – not here. we got these puffed, marshmallow-y things. like a rice crispy treat, but with ethnic spices (so probably nothing like a rice krispy treat).

bottom line: a fun environment, a couple of winners, we may get the bento box for the hollywood bowl. would like to try the mung bean pancakes and vietnamese corn and turkish doughnuts. SG, of course, would tear this place apart due to its lack of authenticity, but you can’t please everyone, i guess – least of all, picky, picky, and more picky SG.

eatatstreet.com | 742 N. Highland Ave. 90038 | 323.203.0500

as for the accident, s**t happens, i guess.

i’ve been talking about huckleberry a lot lately. the baguette…the brioche…it’s on JG’s 99 list. they focus on sustainable “farming” and local produce. growing your own herbs and produce in planters in your parking lot doesn’t get much more local.

tomatoes!

more tomatoes!

basil!

even more tomatoes!

(is that how you spell pudgy? pudgie? pudgee?) we have been eating phenomenal food and we haven’t even started on a single one of JG’s 99. last night, was photo session #2 with baby G and another opportunity for an ALMRAM.M.J culinary expedition. we brought the clam chowder and sungold tomato/persian cuke salad/sticky toffee pudding dessert and RAM presented the steamed artichokes w/ garlic butter, a crusty baguette from tavern and an arugula salad with roasted hazelnuts, nectarines, figs, plums and cheese.

tonight, we had KL + MC over for hamburgers (3 lbs for 4 people; 80/20; plus 1/2 lb of sauteed bacon and a splash of olive oil and chile pepper flakes) with a carmelized red onion/orange/raspberry/jalapeno spread and wilted watercress and avocado and FM tomatoes, grilled brioche bread from huckleberry, grilled shishito peppers (with a touch of sesame chili oil), maitake mushrooms (grilled in foil with butter and garlic), a fabulous salad with baby lettuces, sungold tomatoes, raspberries, and italian sweet peppers, and ciao bella sorbet (blood orange) and gelato (chocolate hazelnut). we didn’t even get to the salad… i ate my whole burger, half the shishito peppers, 1/3 of the mushrooms, 1/2 a cup each of gelato and sorbet and a cup of coffee. and earlier today, i had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich @ cafe zella, a salad, and a whole bunch of watermelon.

like i said, if i keep this up, i am going to get pudgy.