by Christina Waters | Oct 30, 2007 | Home |
Even if you know someone who makes great tamales, you want to be prepared for those sudden emergency tamale needs.
For those moments, run on over to El Rosal Bakery & Panaderia at 21513 E. Cliff Drive (462-1308). Three kinds of freshly-made tamales ready to choose. $1 each. And if you like to make your own fillings, El Rosal will sell you the authentic masa. You do the rest.
I know what I do with El Rosal tamales. I throw some medium fire-power green sauce on them and eat them. Fast. Remarkable with pinot noir.
by Christina Waters | Oct 24, 2007 | Home |
Every now and then something occurs to melt the mediocrity of 21st century concerns clean into oblivion. Almost any dance created by Mark Morris can achieve this effect. But even the MacArthur fellow has outdone himself with his latest creation – Mozart Dances, a trio of movement ephiphanies set to two concertos and a sonata, by Mozart. Commissioned to celebrate 250 years of the baroque wunderkind’s brilliance, Mozart Dances premiered last year in New York, bringing critics and mere mortals to their knees with joy and gratitude.
I joined them on Sunday, flying down to Los Angeles just for this chance to see what inspired imagination can do with sixteen brilliantly tuned human bodies, a full orchestra and two grand pianos. The short version of my experience is this: Mozart received the homage he deserves. The long version will take a lifetime – so I’ll provide only a few comments about the experience (which has left me breathless).
A bouquet of three abstract dances – with occasional moments of narrative implication – the groupings seemed to channel the secret heart of this vivacious music. The effect was to hear Mozart for the first time. Or if not for the first time, at least to hear it made new. Legs, arms, fingertips and toes flicking and kicking the notes into the stratosphere with surgical precision, stormy muscularity, breathtaking delicacy and poetic abandon. All of these contradictory moods and attitudes came together and pulled apart, like an intricate crochet of tides surging in and out, and all to the insistent pulse of Mozart’s music. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Oct 24, 2007 | Food, Home, Travel |
Granted this is high-end tourist dining, but still…when in the belly of the downtown LA art scene — I refer to the splendid, if self-congratulatory performative smorgy known as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Mark Taper Forum, the Disney Hall, yada yada — you will invariably find yourself with few dining choices. Of course you could always buck the worst traffic this side of the East Bay and head to some chi-chi hot spot on Melrose, or in Santa Monica. But let’s say that like me you’ve got only one day and one location — the Music Center complex. Your options are limited – and pricey. But you know that going in. So. Last Sunday, armed with a ticket for a 2pm matinee of Mozart Dances, I needed a light lunch, and a light post-performance dinner, before heading back to LAX and the flight home.
Kendall’s Brasserie obliged with the lunch part – Kendall’s is very 
conveniently located in the street-level front of the Dorothy Chandler, i.e. downstairs from the huge plaza and performance hall itself. Right across the street, the Frank Gehry crumpled spaceship that is Disney Hall blazed in the late morning sun. The huge boulevards were largely empty, it was already 85 degrees out — a typical Sunday in downtown, Civic Center Los Angeles.
Kendall’s — part of the spiffy Patina empire of performing arts caterers — is a comfortable, generic grill with a no-brainer menu of crowd-pleasers. I chose a ballotine appetizer ($13.95) of Long Island duck, studded with pistachios, foie gras and a violet mustard sauce. A fluff of lettuces, and an entire jar of cornichons (I counted 14 of them) topped the tasty, if uninspired creation. Wonderful grainy bread and a too-chilled, but generously poured Covey Run 2005 Sauvignon Blanc rounded out my meal. Maybe the glut of little pickles signaled that this was a dish for a man? But in the same generous spirit, there were at least 20 pistachios in the delicious duck paté. Service was perfunctory, but given the convenience of the whole thing, it wasn’t exorbitant. I left half the wine so as to be able to soak up more of the amazing dance performance.
by Christina Waters | Oct 24, 2007 | Food, Home, Travel |
After the performance, I roamed the broad sidewalks outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion along with most of the Mark Morris Dance Group audience — we were trying to come back to earth. Across the street in the gleaming Disney Hall is Joachim Splichal’s flagship Patina, one of the icons of California cuisine. I had wisely made an on-line reservation for an early dinner there – in time to unwind, have something clever to eat, and still get back to LAX for the flight through the burning hills, and home.
Pretentiousness reigns at Patina, where the woman at the front desk is wearing BCBG and two guys show you to the bathrooms. One points, the other opens the door. The head waiter/sommelier has a French accent — which might be genuine. Or not. I decide that ordering well is the best revenge, and begin with a glass of Tempranillo. A Viñas del Cenit Tempranillo 2003 ($14) to be precise — lots of fruit and bold tannin. Another waiter brings around a tray laden with bread possibilities — I choose something with enormous whole grains and several tiny rounds of sourdough that are fabulous. An amuse is presented by waiter person number 3 – it is a 
morsel of lobster hiding under a transparent disk of daikon, sauced with something too sweet containing perhaps grapefruit. It is very pretty – and almost flavorful enough to be called delicious. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Oct 23, 2007 | Home, Wine |
From waaay down under — New Zealand — comes my new favorite, crisp inexpensive easy-sippin’ Sauvignon Blanc. Villa Maria 2006, “Private Bin,” is a fun companion for tapas and seafoods, or just for unwinding after a hard day at the keyboard. Full of citrus and granite, this baby opens up – not a whole lot, but enough – into a delicate olive grove finish. It offers a respectable, but restrained 13.5% alcohol.
The best part? The $7 price tag.
At Cost Plus World Market.
Go get some.
