Category Archives: Wine

Food Porn Inspired Moments

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My parents always told me that in death, the only things you can take with you are experiences. This is how they have lived their life, (sometimes to a fault but that’s for my future therapist to help me work through), and this is how I have up to now, lived my own.

I am about to get a new-to-me phone, another technology hand me down from my husband, and as I look back through the photos stored on this device, I have come to one realization: my experiences, the moments that will accompany me to the grave mostly pertain to food and wine. So many wonderful and delicious meals documented for posterity, with each photograph I revert back to that initial moment of pleasure, or the foodgasm if you will.

This is a blog post and not a novel. I promise I will restrain myself from looking through my entire library of food porn stored on the family computer, and share only what is on my soon to be retired phone.

Left Coast Wine in GlendaleThe time we rode our bikes to Happy Hour and went to Left Coast Wine in Glendale. On our way home we stole apples from the neighbor because no one ever picked them and they were rotting on the ground. We got caught… Made apple pie when we got home though!

Stryker Sonoma WineThe time we played a blind wine tasting game and even though I had no idea that I was drinking Stryker, I knew I liked it, so I stopped playing the game and just kept drinking from mystery bottle number 5. (My good taste in wine was confirmed that night.)

Bordeaux WineThe time we were in Bordeaux and it was cold and rainy so we had an indoor picnic with just the essentials: Cheese, Baguette, Chocolate, Jam and Wine.

Akelarre in San SebastianThe time we were in San Sebastian, Spain and had dinner at Akelarre, a 3 Michelin star restaurant. We fancy!

Ravenous Russian River RestaurantThe time we were in CA Wine Country and the nephew of our friend took us to the restaurant he used to work at and it was awesome.

Mother Dough in LAThe time I was about to leave to go dance on a cruise for a week and S said he wanted to take me on a date. We looked at LA Weekly’s Best of issue and decided to go to the place voted Best Pizza: Mother Dough. This place truly earned its title.

cuban cigarThe time we were in Cozumel, Mexico and drank espresso and smoked a Cuban cigar just because we could.

By: W. Castellanos-Wolf

Wine Tasting in Dry Creek Valley

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Because as a woman in her thirties life is too short to drink bad wine, this past weekend the newly formed, “Society of the Traveling Boots,” headed off to wine country.

Driving on Westside Road towards Dry Creek Valley was like travelling back in time. Familiar wines, centerpieces to special moments already lived, greeted me along the road to the left, while to the right, the colors of fall, yellow, orange and sometimes red splashed the ocean of vines that could be seen growing, row after row, until they reached the horizon of Pines at the opposite end of the last long curve. October, after the harvest and right before the frost leaves the vines bare and exposed, is a beautiful time to go wine tasting.

Our agenda was simple: visit some old favorites and discover something new. The goal: come home with some new bottles. Both were accomplished.

Old Favorites- Quivira Vineyards

We discovered Quivira about 4 years ago and were instantly impressed by the fact that all the wines on their tasting list, (even the whites, which we are usually not such a fan of), were excellent.

So how was it 4 years later? Crowded. Loud. Which is unfortunate because these outside factors really do affect the tasting experience. The tasting rooms are there to showcase the wines, but also to sell the patron on a fantasy, a feeling, the story of the land, and their winemaking philosophy or ideal. All of these factors are intangible. All of these are impossible to acquire when the bar is crowded, the tastings come sporadically or feel rushed, or when the only info we get on the wine is what is on the tasting menu, and a map that the pourer points to when he fills our glasses.

Ok, ranting aside, the wine is still really good. I am not going to pretend like I am a sophisticated wine connoisseur and explain each wine’s flavor profile. What I can say about the wine is that I like it so much, I am considering being part of their wine club so that I can get this yummy wine delivered to my house, like Christmas presents that come in the mail year round.

Something New- Thomas George Estates

I was sold at wine cave. I know, how shallow of me, but hey, it is my belief that wine tasting is like Disneyland for adults. Each new tasting room is like a new ride. We don’t know what to expect with every pour and if the adventure occurs in an interesting space, like a cave or barrel room, even better. Downside, the cave was really, really cold.

Wine cave aside, Thomas George was pouring from two distinct tasting lists. The first list poured an array of whites and reds, starting with a Sauvignon Blanc and finishing with a Zinfandel. The second list was pouring all Pinots. Like everyone else who became obsessed with the movie “Sideways,” I too went through a Pinot only phase, so this tasting was especially of interest. The tastings were expensive. Like Napa Valley tasting room expensive. So while we were not thrilled to be paying $15 and $30 to taste from each list, it was well worth it.

We tasted Pinots from their various Thomas George estates. The list went from a lighter Pinot to a more aggressive and full-bodied Pinot. It was interesting to compare how the same grape, but grown in varying climate zones with varying terroir, could taste so different. We came home with a couple of bottles of the Cresta Ridge Vineyard Pinot and paired it that same evening with some Spanish style Gambas al Ajillo, or Garlic Shrimp. And in case you are wondering, bold and peppery, the Cresta held up just fine.

By: W. Castellanos-Wolf 

 

Vinoteca

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There is a long skinny bar on Hillhurst Avenue that has been satiating my appetite for gourmet food, delectable wine from all over the world and craft beer for years. And while I have food porn dreams about the Pasta served at my table directly from its foray in a giant parmesan cheese wheel, the bill at the end of the night has always felt more like a nightmare. I don’t know why I am always surprised! It is a delicious and expensive night out and no matter how many times I tell myself that I really cannot afford to go there very often, I just can’t help it. It is that good and what has made it worse, is that the owner as well as some of the bartenders and wait staff now know me. Let’s just say that in my life I don’t have “Cheers,” the friendly neighborhood bar where everybody knows my name. I have Vinoteca, the cave-like bar I stroll into late at night with my musician friends after shows, where the owner, a flirty Brazilian gentleman knows my name, and where sometimes I can trade a smile for a refill of wine. 

I love Vinoteca and now I can love it more without taking out a new credit card. Sunday is Happy Hour all day long. They have a normal Happy Hour schedule Monday through Friday from 4 to 7pm, but on Sunday, I can get there leisurely at any time of day and truly enjoy Happy Hour without the after work rush or crowd. Draft beers are $4, bottled beer is $3. Their beer list is not very extensive but the choices they have are well paired with the Italian and Brazilian fusion cuisine Vinoteca is known for. Wine ranges between $6 and $8 depending on the style. They have an ever changing list of wine varietals from regions all over the world. Happy Hour at Vinoteca is a good opportunity to wine taste with friends at half the price. The pours are generous, perfect for sharing and the bartenders knowledgeable.

Vinoteca is an extension of a larger restaurant called Vinoteca Farfalla located literally down the hall. The food they serve at the bar is extraordinary because it comes from the same kitchen as the restaurant. Their Happy Hour specialties include thin crust and perfectly crispy pizzas topped with European cheeses, charcuterie and fresh veggies. They serve a variety of inspired salads like my favorite which includes interesting toppings like plantain, hearts of palm and avocado.  The menu does not change very much for Happy Hour. They serve all of the same items they do for dinner but at a much friendlier price.

If you, the reader, ever find yourself at Vinoteca on a Sunday night for Happy Hour and all of the sudden the long table in the back next to the wine racked wall burst out into spontaneous song and dance, come say hello. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, when I show up with my musician friends after shows, we eat, we drink, the Spanish guitar leaves the case and live entertainment ensues just because. 

 

By: W. Castellanos-Wolf

Ex-Porn Star turned Winemaker- That’s what he said.

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Wine ReviewIn Los Angeles where the majority of the creatively inclined population has to stitch together an income from a variety of sources, one can meet the dancer/school teacher, or the freelance writer/barista, but the ex-porn star turned winemaker is a definite first for me.

Disclaimer: I am a blogger, not an investigative journalist, so while I did try to fact check some of the following post, I really did not try that hard. Because really, who wants to spend the morning scouring the web for an ex-porn star? Can you imagine? I did, and that’s why I decided to just go with it, which is another fun idiosyncrasy of living in L.A. You are what you say you are, no proof necessary.

We met Victor Abascal at Silverlake Wine during their weekly Thursday night tasting event. Abascal is the owner/winemaker at Vines on the Marycrest in Paso Robles where he specializes in Zinfandel and Rhone Blends. As soon as we approached the bar and even before talking to him, I knew that he was the winemaker. He was exuberant, friendly, informative and poured generously. His excitement for the wine was contagious.

We tasted 4 different wines, a 2012 Viognier and Granache Blanc blend which was lovely on a hot summer afternoon. This wine was cold, crisp and light bodied with faint fruity notes. Next, Abascal poured us his 2011 GSM “Heart of Glass,” named after the 1978 Blondie song. He said that this song was the musical embodiment of the wine because like the song, his wine had a haunting first note. I’m not sure if this was an accurate description of the wine but I’m a sucker for a good story. Besides, just thinking of Paso Robles and GSMs makes me smile. GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) wines, otherwise knows as The Côtes du Rhône Blend, are extremely popular in Paso Robles and to me, they taste like love and new beginnings. GSM wines were how my husband got the courage to propose, and what we celebrated our engagement with.

Winemaker in Paso RoblesBy our third tasting, our group was adequately socially lubed and our conversation somehow got to ex-porn star, jokes about the San Fernando Valley, vacation homes in the Russian River and oh yeah, “This is my favorite wine I’ve ever made, the 2011 Syrah.” It was full-bodied, slightly smoky and even though no self-respecting wine connoisseur would ever say this publicly, just plain good. I liked the Syrah. Our last pour was a Zin from a 57 year old vine. I thought that 57 year old vine would be considered old vine Zin, but apparently it was middle aged vine Zin. (Who knew this was even a thing?) This wine had lots of dark cherry flavors, but was not overwhelming to the palette.

We finished our last wine pour slowly, enjoying the conversation and planning our next trip up to Paso Robles. Cheers!

By: W. Castellanos-Wolf

 

Trattoria Amici

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As featured on Love Happy Hour dot com

Thin crust pizzaPizza is possibly my most favorite food. I know, how uncouth of me, but how can anyone not love a staple of the human diet? The saying goes that one cannot live off of bread alone but I beg to differ, especially when that bread is covered with cheese and sauce, and baked into a perfect crisp. Pair that with a deep crimson wine or a cold Italian beer, and you’ve got Happy Hour.

I’ve been trying to explore my much transformed hometown of Glendale, CA. Growing up, I hated how boring and suburban it felt and I especially hated how the mall was the center of all social activities. Downtown Glendale had so much potential what with old theaters, independently owned shops, and it’s very own public transit system that was actually functional and cost only twenty five cents. Apparently, I was not the only person who thought that my hometown had potential because gradually developers have transformed it into a consumer’s wet dream. The new mall called the Americana, houses high end shops and restaurants and is literally built like a town square, fully equipped with a trolley that takes patrons on a tour of the premises. My husband said it best when he said it felt like Disneyland but for adults. Because of this very reason I was reticent to accept a Happy Hour invite to Trattoria Amici which is located on Americana Way. The only reason I went was because my friend said the magic word: pizza.

I pulled into the vast parking lot that had me looping from floor to floor. I then rode the escalators down through the chandeliered and carpeted lobby and slowly emerged into the bright and overcrowded square. Frank Sinatra followed me as I crossed the trolley tracks and the faux lawn until I finally reached my friends, who were already partaking in an al fresco Happy Hour experience on the patio.

happy hour wineI don’t want to admit it but I really liked Trattoria Amici. Because it is located in the Americana I wanted to hate it but I couldn’t. I felt like I was in a sidewalk café in Europe. The waiter was Italian, my company from Spain, there were cloth napkins and real silverware on the table, the bread basket warm and the olive oil just the right amount of acidic. We ordered wine for $5 a pour and Italian beers for $3.50. We ate personal sized pizzas with thin crispy crusts and veggies for $6 and generally enjoyed the simple yet sophisticated atmosphere.

Happy hour glendaleTrattoria Amici has Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 6:30. Their Happy Hour menu has specials on wine, beer and classic cocktails like Mojitos and Margaritas. They also have a wide range of gourmet pizzas catering to meat lovers and vegetarians alike. I had the pizza with artichokes, but the next time I go I will have the funghi and then the classic margherita, and well, I guess I will have to keep going until I’ve tried every pizza on their menu.

The Famous

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As Featured on Love Happy Hour dot com

happy hour glendaleA cool breeze rushed against my face as I sped down the street on my bike towards one of Glendale’s newest bars, The Famous. Located right in the center of Downtown Glendale across the street from the Americana, The Famous is housed in one of the city’s historic buildings and takes it’s name from a department store that used to occupy that same space at the turn of the last century. It is a bit of nostalgia amidst 21st century consumerism and although it is a modern lounge fully equipped with a high tech sound system and movie projectors, it is the vintage decorative touches and historic photos of the city that make it unique. It might very well be corporate like all of the other business in the surrounding area, but it does not feel like it.

The heat wave was in full effect and as we rode our bikes on our self-guided Happy Hour bike tour, all I could think of was that The Famous boasts a specialty craft cocktail menu that I could not wait to taste. They serve classic cocktails like the “Ivy Rose” and the “Finch Phosphate” and claim that all of the ingredients are fresh, local and concocted in house. I am not normally a cocktail drinker and I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the choices on the menu, so I asked our very friendly bartender to surprise me with something refreshing. He prepared for me a Cherry-Lime Rickey. Upon taking the first sip I had to ask our bartender if this was one of those dangerous cocktails, the kind that go down easily like a homemade lemonade, only to find out an hour or so later that you are a little too tipsy to ride your bike home…

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The Famous has Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 5pm to 8pm. As previously stated, the cocktail menu is impressive, but surprisingly enough, so is the beer list. The Happy Hour specials are $2 off spirits and cocktails, $5 beers and $6 well drinks. They do not have a kitchen but they do have a gourmet food truck called the Vagabond Grillyard that parks in the back and serves burgers and sandwiches. We tried to get food but unbeknownst to us, the Vagabond Grillyard staff was not set up yet. I think they were late in opening because the bartender gave us a food menu and when we went out to the food truck to order, they acted annoyed and were really rude.  Needless to say, we drank but did not eat.

The Famous has only been open for about 10 months. It reminds me of a smaller version of the Edison or a cleaner version of Harvard and Stone, two L.A. bars that play up the vintage theme. I hope that it survives in an area that is not really known for its nightlife and in what I am sure is a very expensive building to lease.

On Wine Gadgets Part 2

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The wine industry teaches consumers that wines of a certain age, vineyard or varietal require time to breathe. One can let a wine breathe by simply opening the bottle and letting it sit undisturbed for an undetermined period of time, or one can turn to one of the many wine gadgets invented for this purpose. S and I have received different types of aerators as gifts in the past five years. They are often decorative and give the perception that we are oh so fancy wine connoisseurs, but really, I don’t know if they make a difference. I am able to taste and appreciate the delicate notes that emerge as a wine sits and swirls in my glass, but I am not sure if pouring wine through one of these gadgets accomplishes the aerating process faster or better.

Part 2 of Her 30’s Wine Gadget Review: The Aerator, Decanter and Wine Yoke

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The Soiree- This aerator is pretty. My first encounter with it was at the Jada tasting room in Paso Robles and I wanted it instantly. I did not let myself purchase it though because I have come to learn that wine tasting and shopping are not a good idea. I have returned home from wine tasting with $40 tank tops that I just had to have while wine tasting that I could never wear anywhere except to sleep or to do house work, earrings in the shape of grape bunches that sparkled and called to me from the display and magnetic bookmarks with cat designs because there was a cat that lived in that particular tasting room and I wanted to make sure it knew that I liked cats. I associated the soiree with those purchases, pretty but useless. It has a bulbous shape and is made of glass with little spokes that are supposed to introduce oxygen into the wine and comes with plastic attachments that wrap around its stem so that it will fit securely into any bottle. The wine pours out of the bottle, fills the soiree and yes, I have to admit there is always a thrill as the scarlet liquid swishes inside the aerator and I think to myself, is this the day that this gadget will accidentally slip out of the bottle and wine will come pouring and spilling out everywhere? I cannot say for certain if this gadget does the job it was designed to do, but I can say that it adds an aesthetic value to pouring wine and isn’t that part of the fun of drinking wine anyway?

photo (1)The Decanter- The decanter is not really a gadget but rather part of the stem wear/crystal wear family.  We usually pour the wine in and let it sit in the decanter, instead of just letting it sit in the bottle, while we make dinner. It is a piece we often use to add a sense of luxury to our dinner table. I like the look of it. The decanter often comes in distinct shapes which makes them difficult to clean and even scarier to pour wine from. In order to pour the last of the wine I have to tip the decanter completely perpendicular to the table. This is a recurring theme with aerators it seems; pleasing to the eye and scary to pour from.

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The Wine Yoke- This is the most ridiculous wine gadget I have ever encountered and I love it. As a woman in her thirties instead of carrying a child around in a baby backpack, the wine yoke allows me to carry my wine around with me everywhere I go. It looks like something out of the S and M section in the Adult Store but really it is the official hands free for wine. As I walk around wearing the wine yoke, my wine swirls in the glass, oxygen permeating the liquid opening up flavors, my wine getting tastier by the minute. It is a comical gadget but a useful one.

 

On Wine Gadgets Part 1

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David Sedaris’s new book titled “Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls,” opens with a story where he makes the comment of how he likes owls and because of that peculiar detail, receives owl themed gifts constantly. The story then develops into a complex and interesting tale that ultimately is about self-reflection and about how one is perceived by others. While I can relate to the deeper motifs of the story, that one comment, the one about owl gifts had me laughing and thinking of what gifts keep repeating themselves in my life.

It is no secret that S and I love wine. Since we met, wine has been a big part of our relationship. We take a yearly trip up to California’s beautiful wine country where we spend way too much money on bottles we save and then savor at special occasions throughout the year. Our relationship evolves with our pallet for wine and I cannot help but use this cliché, both get better with time. We are winos and winos have lots of wine gadgets. The funny part of all this is that we have purchased almost none of the wine gadgets we store in our house and in our cars for those emergency wine moments. Most of our wine gadgets were gifts. Our lovely family and friends indulge us with the latest in wine accessories. So much so, that S said that for the next birthday or event where a gift is customary, we will include a short statement in the invite informing everyone to “Please just buy us the wine!”

Last night after unsuccessfully trying to pull the cork off a bottle of wine with one of our many openers, I made a statement in jest about how I should review all of our wine gadgets in Her 30’s. S thought that would be a fun and informative read considering the amount of wine paraphernalia we have so I thought why not? As a woman in her thirties it is my duty and responsibility to share the wine knowledge I have acquired with those who have not yet discovered wine, or are still dabbling with the idea of letting themselves become full fledged winos.

Part 1 of Her 30’s Wine Gadget Review: The Fancy Wine Opener

Wine openers are essential for without them we would either stare at the wine bottle longingly, admiring its curves and label, or break it open against a metal pole in a parking lot on a drunken afternoon as if christening a boat in order to drink its contents. Since the latter statement is for another kind of story, I will continue with my wine opener review.

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The Rabbit: Sleek in design with a brushed metal finish resembling you’ve guessed it, a rabbit, comes with its own foil cutter, a hard plastic package/stand one can store it in and a 10 year warranty. With all of these great qualities one would hope it could open a bottle of wine, but alas it cannot. I try to use it over and over again to no avail. The rabbit feels good in one’s hand as it has a nice cushy handle and grip, but while the cork is pierced easily, it rarely is pulled out of the bottle.

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The Argyle: Heavy in one’s hand with a basic design, the Argyle is not the most attractive but it can open anything. Plastic cork, real cork, the Argyle is not phased by anything that will stand in the way of me enjoying a bottle of wine. It also comes with a foil cutter but this opener works so well one doesn’t even need to neatly trim the foil off of the bottle in order to open it. The Argyle can pierce through the foil and extract a cork without too much exertion. It is a heavy-duty wine opening instrument that I absolutely love.

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The Estate: This is a wine opener and a piece of furniture as it is mounted on a wooden stand that can be purchased to match the rest of the furniture in the room it will be featured in. The Estate measures about 2 feet in height and is beautifully crafted with a brushed gold metal head and wooden handle. This opener does its job efficiently and neatly, while giving the owner of such an instrument a feeling of sophistication. People who visit our house for the first time comment on it without fail. What I really love about this opener is that it is attractive, efficient, and on the rare occasion that S and I do not finish a bottle of wine, we can use it to re-cork a bottle. Lift the handle one way and it opens the bottle, lift the handle the opposite way and it re-corks it. Awesome! 

On Drinking Less for Vanity’s Sake

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drink-reductionI admit it; I am an extremely vain woman in her thirties. I inspect the aging process closely and I check out other women to see how well or how badly I am aging in comparison. I can’t help it. It comes from years and years of standing in front of the mirror in dance class and rehearsals working on my lines, intricate movement combinations and corresponding expression. Because a dancer’s craft is visual and our bodies the instrument, the mirror is a very important tool for practice, but off the dance floor and out of the dance studio the mirror can become a tool for extreme self criticism. My husband makes fun of me by pointing out that I cannot pass by a reflective surface without checking myself out and it’s partially true. I do not stop what I am doing to stand in front of the mirror, but I will in passing make eye contact with myself, check out my posture as I walk by, maybe brush back my hair. In private though, I do inspect myself closely in the mirror and in photos.

The day after my husband’s 35th birthday party I was casually looking through the photos from that night until I came across one of me, at which point I zoomed in really close, tilted the camera to get a wider view and I was, (like they write in all of the teenage girl magazines), mortified with a capital M. When one has an idea of what one looks like and then sees the total opposite in photos it can be quite daunting. I thought I was looking cute that night but instead I looked bloated, I had puffy eyes, my outfit was not flattering, my hair looked dull and my make up was not helping. I reviewed the night and then the previous weeks in order to find the culprit of my tired appearance and this is what I came up with: overeating and binge drinking on a regular basis is not conducive to aging gracefully.

I cannot say that I have a drinking problem but I have been known to drink a couple of glasses of wine and or a couple of beers pretty much every night whether alone or accompanied, in order to unwind or to better enjoy my meal. And in social situations, well let’s just say that our group of friends can handle their liquor. We drink and we like it.

It was Sunday afternoon and I was still a bit hung over from the party when I decided that I would reserve my drinking for weekends to see if it made a difference on my appearance. Yes, I stopped my daily drinking for vanity’s sake. It has been two weeks now and this is what I have noticed and learned as sobriety has been my weekday companion.

Since I do not have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner, I pour myself a glass or two of water instead. I am less dehydrated and the beauty benefits are miraculous. Who knew!? Okay, I guess I did, but it took a blow to my vanity to make me drink more water and less alcohol. My lips are less chapped, my skin clearer, my eyes less puffy and shinier. I still have some remaining red lines in my eyes, but that’s because I stare at a computer for a big portion of the day. I don’t look bloated, especially around my face and I am sleeping better. I am not overeating or craving greasy food because I am not drinking and needing something heavy to soak up the alcohol, but I am craving dessert which I never did before. Perhaps a sign that I want to replace one stimulant with another…

My wallet has also seen the benefits of abstaining from alcohol during the week. I am spending less money if I am out on a weekday because I am not drinking, and at home, we are spending less money on groceries because we are not stocking up on alcohol for consumption during the week.

I know my body is thanking me for the break from constantly needing to process and eliminate toxins, but I am not going to lie, while it hasn’t been physically painful, a sign of addiction and dependence, I do find myself counting the days. “One day sober, two, three days to go…” The goal is to make it a habit, clean myself out from the inside so that it can be reflected on the outside. Like they say in AA right, one day at a time.

On My Introduction to Elf Cafe

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Sometimes one attends an event and the experience of it lingers having touched the soul like the high notes of an aria. I had such a moment recently and I’ve found myself reminiscing as if it had already turned into a distant memory. I’ve caught myself starring at the pictures and thinking out loud that a repeat is in order. I am of course obsessing over my latest food experience which was referred to in a previous post, but beckons to be elaborated on.

photo (3)Silverlake Wine serves up a delicious Sunday afternoon of food and wines that are consistently different from anything I would ever pour myself. This past Sunday though my discovery did not come in the lovely shape of a wine bottle, but rather on flimsy paper plates carrying perfect bites of Vegetarian foodie pleasure.

When I was a teenager I began to work summers at my Dad’s office which was located on the corner of Alvarado and Beverly. We would take Glendale Blvd. all the way to Alvarado and pass through Atwater Village, Silverlake and Echo Park. These neighborhoods were old, the outgrown roots of the trees pushed the concrete off of the sidewalks, the roads were cracked, graffiti prominent and poverty apparent by the active homeless communities we drove past every morning. “This is what Los Angeles really looks like,” my father said to me. As a woman in her thirties, time does not pass by unnoticed. I have grown up and what the city really looks like has also changed. These neighborhoods have been renovated and reinvented. Fifteen years ago, Echo Park would have been an unlikely place to open up a Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant, but now it is the perfect neighborhood to house the Elf Café, source of my latest food obsession.

It was love at first taste so I am sorry to report that I inhaled the first amuse-bouche before I was able to photograph it. It was baked Halloumi cheese topped with a spicy walnut paste and served with a very tender white carrot.

The second serving was an orzo and feta stuffed zucchini served with a light and refreshing tzatziki yogurt sauce with mint accents.

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This was followed by a toast with hummus spread, topped with whole oregano spiced  garbanzo beans.

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By the fourth course, I was tipsy and so impressed. We were served polenta slathered in garlic paste and topped with a portabella mushroom cap.

Finally for dessert, we had a crepe filled with pistachio and pomegranate, drizzled with some heavy cream. 

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 Needless to say, it was a very good introduction and I cannot wait to go for dinner.