take-out bockwurst from berlin currywurst

berlin currywurst and grindhaus and wurstkuche are on my sausage to do list. i decided not to let my $68 parking ticket get me down: after driving around for 20 minutes trying to find parking that wasn’t unavailable due to 2 hour friday street cleaning, i deposited $0.75 in a meter and made my way to berlin currywurst. like a good angeleno, i called first to see if they would sell me 6 bockwurst for me to grill at home. yes, they would! i met the owner (sorry, didn’t really catch his name) who raved about currywurst as preeminent german street food and how his sausages are authentic and how he made a special exception for me since he normally only lets people take away a minimum of 40 or more. we talked a little bit about lalaland and then after a few suggestions for how to eat and prepare, he sent me on my way. he asked me to let him know how our grilled at home bockwurst were. here’s what i wrote:

dear berlin currywurst:

i visited you yesterday to purchase 6 bockwurst to take home and grill. you asked me to let you know what i thought so here it is:

[1] first, thank you. we thought the quality of your bockwurst was top-notch.
[2] we loved the flavor (more flavorful than other bockwurst we remember eating) – is there nutmeg in your recipe?
[3] we loved the snap of the casing – do you make everything there in silverlake?
[4] there were mixed reviews on the density – half of us thought it was denser than we normally like and half thought it was perfect.
[5] we purchased some german mustard at whole foods (strong vinegar. loved it. not sure if this is authentic or not…) and enjoyed it the most with the bockwurst.
[6] we also tried it with dijon mustard and stone ground mustard and we tried your 2/3 mustard + 1/3 ketchup recommendation. very good.
[7] thank you again. based on our experience, we will most likely visit you in silverlake and sit down to the full dining experience.

here’s the tasting table article:

From the explosion of cupcake bakeries to our ever-expanding fleet of food trucks, Los Angeles is certainly familiar with instant trends.

Now, our latest nascent craze is currywurst, a sausage dish invented in postwar Berlin that has a growing presence in L.A.

Dog Haus: The Berlin influence began in Pasadena last fall with the opening of this encyclopedic cased-meats spot, which serves currywurst alongside numerous other sausages. Here, it’s juicy knockwurst hiding under a tangy ketchup-and-curry-powder dressing. (105 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena; 626-577-4287)

Germany’s Famous Bratwurst: In January, Berlin native Jill Kussmacher launched this truck, taking currywurst mobile. For $6, expect a traditional iteration of the dish: snappy pork sausage doused with ketchup and dusted with orange curry powder. (Locations vary; 323-608-5630)

Berlin Currywurst: This week-old storefront near Sunset Junction offers the best of the wurst. Organic sausages ($6 each) such as veal-and-pork bockwurst, beef-based rindswurst and the self-explanatory paprikawurst are grilled, slathered with a tomato-based sauce, and sprinkled with curry and paprika powders of varying heat levels, with the fire options topping out at 4, aka the “Break the Wall” version. Thick-cut, skin-on fritten ($3.50)–don’t call them French fries–are available with minced onions or jambalaya. (3827 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake; 323-663-1989)

next up: grindhaus and wurstkuche (come to venice, already, geez)

Last night, kl very graciously and generously invited us to dinner at wolfgang puck’s cut and while i was in the bathroom, mr. puck came to our table, shook everyone’s hands and posed for a picture with the group. Typical. I can’t say that i really minded or was hip to the star gazing: i missed him a second time as he was wandering through the dining room greeting other guests and i was staring through the glass walls of his kitchen in his richard meier designed dining room. let’s talk about the decor before we talk about the food. The dining room itself is open, airy, unpretentious and welcomes you in a non-suffocating and completely un-steakhouse way (remember maestro’s?). i love me some richard meier and i love this dining room. The menu points out that adorning the walls is curated john baldessari artwork. Jonathan gold says that tom cruise dines here. I suppose i shouldn’t be surprised; the place is quintessential los angeles all the way down to the prices and how it is tucked away in the beverly wilshire hotel.

I didn’t try the bone marrow flan as jgold suggested, but i can see how he could like the sides over the beef and the austrian touches over the california ones (despite everything i said above-this is now about the food…not the decor). The highlight of my culinary exploration was my banana cream pie ( sorry, mr. puck; thank you, nicole lindsay). It was perhaps the lightest, least sweet BCP i have ever had and was accompanied by a surprisingly tangy and refreshing banana sorbet canele. I also had a taste of ml’s greek yogurt panna cotta and enjoyed that, too. I was not as impressed with m’s doughnuts (too much mascarpone for my taste). My second favorite was the macaroni and cheese with its perfect bechamel sauce that wasn’t too overpoweringly cheesy. I know what you’re asking yourself: why order mac and cheese if you don’t want to be overpowered by cheese?

And, now, the steak. I took our waiter’s recommendation and ordered the kobe-style 9 oz ribeye for $88 (that’s without sides, folks, and that’s exactly what you get-a piece of steak on a big white plate). M got the tasting menu: 4 oz prime sirloin, 4 oz kobe-style sirloin, and 2 oz australian waygu for $135. Here’s where i give you my disappointment and my bottom line: dear mr. puck, please tell your sous-chefs not to overcook and oversalt my steak and if your 1200 degree broiler is so special (your waiter seems to think so) then use it to impress me by cooking a perfect steak.

will i go back? perhaps. am i grateful for the opportunity to eat there in the first place? absolutely. cut is not a place i would’ve gone to by myself and the evening as a whole was memorable.

Here’s what m has to say: “i feel like i have a coating of beef fat on my face…is that wrong?”