Take Me As Is: Terroni (Los Angeles)

I got into a fight with my friend the other day while we were cooking. I was apparently giving too much cooking “advice”. I gave so much advice that she stormed out of the kitchen and told me to finish the Mac and Cheese myself.

I was wronged to tell her what to do. If I wanted to add my flair, I should have cooked. With each of my modifications, it slowly becomes my dish and no longer hers.

“No Modifications, No Substitutions. No reservations,” is Terroni’s model. It is the perfect model when it comes to eating someone’s cooking. You want to taste a chef’s flavor profile. Each creation should have been perfected before arriving on your table. Adding or removing ingredients could ruin the magic of the chef’s creation.

Terroni, located on Beverly Blvd, north of the Grove, is a marriage of an old school diner and a modern, trendy LA restaurant. It is filled with a hodgepodge of decorations - modern wooden booths, old school leather orange bar chairs, beautiful lighting fixtures and cans and bottles of the kitchen ingredients against the wall.

On a Wednesday Night I was quickly seated and we ordered the following for 2 people to share:

Ricchia - (arugola salad): simple salad with fresh mushroom parmigiano reggiano shavings a light lemon dressing.

Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese - Handmade pasta with a traditional meat sauce that was complex and flavorful like a relationship between a marinara sauce and ground meat that have matured with time in the pot

Ravioli di Burrata con Pesto Siciliano - Homemade Ravioli stuffed with creamy burrata cheese with tomato basil pesto and pieces of sun-dried tomato.

Fritters with Hazelnut Ice Cream - Round, soft, freshly fried doughnuts that are dipped in nutella and served with creamy Hazelnut ice cream.

Terroni’s Southern Italian food needs no modifications or substitutions. It is perfect as is. This was not the most mind blowing Italian meal, but it was solid and well seasoned food that reminded me of my meals in Rome.

Terroni
7605 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 954-0300

http://www.terroni.ca/

Cupcake-aholic: SusieCakes (Brentwood)

I'm a cupcake-aholic. It's been 30 days since my last cupcake. Today has been really hard because I am mourning the death of my Apple Laptop Computer. It's been through countless accidents and surgeries, but sadly, it did not survive the fall from my bed.

Today, I am in need of a soft, moist, fluffy, sweet, creamy cupcake from my favorite cupcake shop -SusieCakes - to comfort this feeling of emptiness inside the pit of my stomach. The dense cakes from other places are not going to cut it. I need a Red Velvet Cupcake. I love the super moist cake and the creamy cream cheese frosting that accents the flavors of the cake perfectly. I might also need a Strawberry Cupcake and a Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers to make the tears go away. I must stay strong for the sake of my wallet and my ass, but a trip to SusieCakes might be the only way to put a smile on my face.

Strawberry cheesecake and sour cream cheese cake on the left and strawberry sugar cookies on the right.

Cupcakes: My favorite is the Red Velvet (Cream Cheese Frosting and Red Sprinkles in Lt Photo) and Strawberry ( Pink Frosting and Red Sprinkles in RT Photo)

SusieCakes
11708 San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 442-2253

http://www.susiecakesla.com/

Burger Heaven: Umami Burger (Los Angeles)

Umami is savory taste beyond salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. It is a natural savory flavor from meats, cheese, or mushrooms that lures you to come back for more. The Umami burger did just that for me. After eating the burger for the first time, I was addicted and went back 3 days later for another.

I went to Umami Burger for the first time last Wednesday. Umami Burger is in a quiet strip of La Brea. I've passed by it multiple times and never noticed it. We arrived at approx. 8 pm and waited 20 minutes to be seated. Umami Burger is not your typical hole-in-the-wall burger stand. The space is modern and sleek, filled with black tables and chairs, ceiling high windows, and Asian inspired fixtures. It is a hybrid of a fast-food stand and sit-down restaurant. The tables are covered in white paper with the Umami logo. Waiters take your order, but then place the order number on your table, so other servers know where to deliver your burger.

I ordered the Umami Burger. It came with caramelized onions, roasted and marinated tomato, Parmesan crisp, grilled shiitake mushroom, homemade ketchup and a medium rare meat patty on a sweat brioche bun. On my first bite, I was knocked out by the complexity of the flavors. Flavors of salty, bitter, sweet, sour and Umami in conjunction with the churchly, soft, chewy, texture and a well seasoned, perfectly cooked and packed meat patty created an amazing tasting burger. Loved it! Can I have seconds please?

We also ate:
Triple Pork Burger - Fresh ground pork spiced with Chorizo and cob-smoked bacon, aged manchego, pimenton aioli.
This burger was packed with so much goodness in the meat patty. The first bite was filled with a burst of flavors. It was much more flavorful, than any other burger I've tried.
Hand Cut Fries - Tripled Cooked. Although, I prefer skinny crispy fries. It was good for steak fries.
Ketchup - I did not enjoy the ketchup. It was more watery and too vinegary than I prefer. Please just give me the Heinz!
Malt Liquor Tempura Onion Rings - It was like tempura at a Japanese restaurant, except WAY too oily after only 10 minutes

On Saturday I ate:
Port and Stilton Burger (Blue Cheese, Port Caramelized Onions) with a glass of Charamba Douro 2005 purchased at the neighborhood liquor store down the street. It was recommended by Umami Burger. Loved the BYOB and the $5 corkage fee. I loved the burger, but do not recommend the wine with this Burger. The wine is too over powering for a burger that also has really strong flavors.

I will be back! For my 3rd burger, I want to try the Truffle Burger. Truffle + Burger? Sold!

Umami Burger
850 S La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 931-3000

www.umamiburger.com