The Knife

Introducing: Ask The Knife

Q: We've got family coming into Playa Del Rey and if it's not steak or seafood, they're not eating it. Is there a steakhouse on the west side? -- Candice M.

A: What? Impossible, I huffed; in Los Angeles, places that serve cow breed like rabbits.

Turns out the westside could use more love motels.

Blue Velvet: You wanna go for a ride?

When you visit a new restaurant for the first time, you never know what you'll find askew.

When I was trying to find Blue Velvet last night around 8 pm, I thought, "Location." Blue Velvet is on the ground floor of The Flat, a former Holiday Inn turned "residential complex" that wants to be part of downtown LA's New World Order. However, it's on the border of downtown, just west of the 110 and firmly ensconced in a neighborhood that falls between "evolving" and "skanky." And a wrong turn near its Garland Avenue address (ever heard of it before? I hadn't) could send you speeding to the safety of the nearest well-lit drive thru.

Once I'd parked my car (there's a valet, but I like the exotic thrill of street parking), I thought, "Weather." Tuesday was blustery and struggling up the hill made me wonder if the location was a wind tunnel. And with much being made about Blue Velvet's poolside dining, that could be a real problem.

At the hostess station, I think, "Reservations." The (indoor) dining room overlooking the pool is full. But we're led through the bar and lounge to a smaller dining room, one without a view but the seats are comfortable, the music's good (if you like the bands on Indie 103) and even the placemats are cool.

I restate my assumptions. Good crowd + handsome space > weird location. Duly impressed.

We order. And I didn't see it coming.

The Pulitzer Prize Comes In Jonathan Gold

It's not every day that your blog receives a comment from a Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic.

Today, LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold received the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

And I quote:

"Awarded to Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly for his zestful, wide ranging restaurant reviews, expressing the delight of an erudite eater."

Mind you, this isn't a prize for food criticism. The Pulitzer committee says that Gold is the finest critic in America, full stop. Music, film, dance, food or architecture, there's none better.

And they're right.

I don't know how he does it, but Gold's writing manages to evoke the sounds, tastes, smells and joys of food (you try it sometime) while dodging cloying adjectives and other twee, food-writing crimes.

And if you don't own Gold's Counter Intelligence, buy it. You won't find his information on the internet and it's better than 10,000 Chowhound posts. The best guide ever written for good eating in Los Angeles, I've used it as my personal Thomas Guide. His description of Golden Deli spring rolls and Din Tai Fung's juicy pork dumplings have led me toward neighborhoods and highways I would have otherwise never known.

 

750 ml in South Pasadena: Bambi vs. Godzilla

Reviewing a restaurant too quickly used to be bad form. The logic goes like this: In its early days, a restaurant is something like a baby deer, uncertain on its feet. (Aww!) It needs time to become accustomed to its surroundings and grow into the strapping young buck that it will more closely resemble for the remainder of its life.

No, the tortured metaphors do not stop there. Because my point is that critics don't wait anymore, unless you count standing in line to blow young Bambi away. (There. I'm done.)

Case in point: 750 ml. The place hasn't been open a week (it opened last Saturday) and already bloggers at Eater LA, Rainy Days & Sundays and Chowhound, as well as the venerable Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold, have all weighed in. (The verdicts: Some good food, a nice joint, but damn those are some small portions. Expensive, tiny portions and — hey, where’s the goddamn bread basket?) 

Furthermore, 750 ml is a wine bar (a what? breaking news!) in South Pasadena, a location that, for much of Los Angeles, exists only as a rumor and maybe not a very nice one. (They're wrong, of course. SoPas is charming as hell. It's also five minutes from my own Highland Park, a neighborhood largely regarded by Westsiders as a myth.)

So why the rush to judgment?

Daniel Melnick vs. Bottled Water

My boss received a letter from (appropriately enough) the guy who produced "L.A. Story."

Dear Peter:

... Even before we are invited to order at whichever fancy, as well as those not so fancy, restaurants (or as usual with me – joints), the serving person inquires as to our preference in waters.

I believe that Los Angeles and New York have very good tap water. Certainly, good enough for the amount usually consumed during a meal. I object to the blatant manipulation which adds substantially to most bills. Wouldn’t it be a good if the money that would be saved by drinking tap water be donated to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

If you agree it would be great if one of your mavens could figure out a way to “formalize” such a movement.

Best personal regards,

Daniel Melnick

P.S. To hell with the personal consequences, I think Wolfgang will always give you and me a table - - and screw the others.

Dolce redux: This isn't tripe

Los Angeles is tough on former ingenues and celebrity restaurants. So it's not surprising that Dolce Enoteca & Ristorante underwent serious menu surgery a few weeks ago.

A little backstory: Dolce opened in 2003 as a boldface name in restaurant form -- Ashton Kutcher owned it (among others), celebrities flocked to it. Furthermore, while Dolce gets credit/blame for launching L.A.'s restaurant-as-nightclub fad, it was also hailed as a gustatory oxymoron -- a trendy restaurant that put food first, with chef Mirko Paderno (Valentino, Drago) and former Valentino sommelier Alessandro Sbrendola.

Since then, Dolce Group opened Geisha House, Les Deux and Ketchup, among others, as well as two more Dolces (Reno, Atlanta). But for the original Dolce, things got rough. Paderno left Dolce in September 2005, sometime after he made lobster ravioli for Nick and Jessica on "Newlyweds."  Sbrendola also found the exit. Big deal -- restaurant staffs are never bastions of stability -- but the celebrities started leaving, too.

The Return of the Village Idiot, or, The Knife Learns A Lesson

Remember the commenter who posted a negative comment here about Village Idiot? Who posted the comment many times, on many different sites? The one who I called out as an Antichrist shill, which got me called out as a bad blogger, to which I responded with (in so many words), "Bite me"?

Anyway. I wrote to the Village Idiot-basher, asking for comment. And voila!

Dana -

Please write about the experience on your blog.  The experience I had at the restaurant was horrendous.  What grudge can a diner have against a restaurant? With the exception of at the end of the experience having to actually pay?

Too many times in this town we are seeing substandard service with the expectation that diners are to except [sic] the service as standard.  What happened to the definition of TIP?  Has that been lost in the suffle [sic]?  When a customer complains about a service in the service industry - is not the customer right? Shouldn't steps be taken to solve a situation?  Say a diner asks for a well-done steak - should they be concerned that when it comes out bloody and raw that no-one took the time to even check?  Should they just except [sic] it?  Tip the server and staff none-the-less?  Does that not send the message that sub-standard service is the norm?

What are the means for rectifying the situation?  What are the roads to warn others of the experience as not to have them be treated in the same deplorable manner?  What other means of "wake up and notice" can be taken for the service industry to remember that "service"?  If there was a negative experience at a restaurant, are not posting sites for those comments?  Or are posting sites for positive comments alone?  Strange that my comments received concern.  If I had posted multiple positive comments on multiple sites would I be receiving this email?

Think about it.

and then, not five minutes later...

Dana -

I had not read your post, nor had I read what was written in response to my posts on EaterLA prior to even sending the email below.  I am saddened that in a society of free speech and open forum for discussion I am lambasted and bombarded with criticism for posting an honest experience.  I was called a slut, a bad-business person and you went so far as to post my IP address.  All for following a given freedom in this country.

I guess I have learned my lesson and should not speak up when there is something wrong.  Just shut up and read.

Thanks for slapping my hand. 

_______________________________________

Good grief.