Mid-Week InstaNom: Singapore Sling at POT Bar

Here’s your mid-week InstaNom to get you over the hump:

At the newly opened POT Bar at the Line Hotel in Koreatown, chef Roy Choi and mixologist Matt Biancaniello have collaborated to create one bad-ass watering hole. From the gold mylar balloons spelling out “POT BAR” on the ceiling to the uni-infused, nori-flecked tequila cocktail on the menu, everything about POT Bar is bold and playful. Biancaniello’s cocktail program both breathes new life into 80s drinks like the White Russian and Fuzzy Navel and presents patrons with brash flavors like kimchi- and natto-infused soju. During my visit, I wasn’t feeling quite that adventurous, but this fruity Singapore Sling with clove-infused grenadine and colorful flourishes of bitters was just my style.

POT Bar
www.eatatpot.com
The Line Hotel
3515 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(213) 368-3030

POT Cafe

Freshly opened in the lobby of the Line Hotel in Koreatown is POT Cafe, the latest venture from chef and restaurateur Roy Choi (and my culinary spirit animal) with pastry chef and Momofuku Milk Bar alum Marian Mar. Situated in a space in the lobby across from the newly opened POT Bar (a collaboration with mixologist Matt Biancaniello), the cafe was inspired by Korean bakeries like Paris Baguette and 85 Degrees.

POT Cafe’s impressive menu covers both sweet and savory bites plus coffee, tea, juice, and booze to drink. For a moment, I thought that I might never want to leave.

Lining POT Cafe’s pastry cases were sweet and savory baked goods inspired by Korean bakeries but, of course, informed by Choi’s various culinary influences. Nearly everything on the menu is under $5– perfect for ordering a few goodies to snack on.

The cafe also bakes up “Super Cakes,” which are homages to grocery store cakes and are available by the slice or in quarter or half sheets. Of course, these are not the grocery store cakes of your childhood; instead, they’ve been elevated with housemade fillings and jazzed up flavor combinations.

On my next visit, I absolutely need a slice of this “Hello Kitty Cake,” a raspberry cake with raspberry jam, lemon mascarpone cream and a housemade “Cool Whip” whipped cream.

This “Army Cake” features a salted caramel buttercream yellow cake, vanilla cream, strawberries and “Cool Whip.”

We began with a Pineapple Lemongrass Ginger juice ($4.00), which was not only refreshing in the 90 degree heat but also held its own against the much pricier trendy juices of which I’m overly fond.

The warm Hurricane Bread and Butter ($2.25) arrived freshly toasted and slathered with butter, garlic and shiso furikake. This captured the flavors of Hawaiian “Hurricane Popcorn”on a wonderfully fluffy roll. 

The Black Sesame Butter Mochi Cake ($3.00) was among the pastries I was most excited to try but was the least successful of our visit. Rather than chewy and pliable, the mochi–topped with black sesame paste and streusel crumbles– was a dense slab. The mochi cake’s flavor was spot on, and the texture may stand up better against the toppings than traditional mochi, but I missed the chew of the soft rice cake.

The best bite of the afternoon was the Strawberries and Cream Bun ($2.50), a fluffy Korean-style dessert bun hollowed out and filled with fresh strawberries, topped with a generous swirl of cream and finished with streusel crumbs. I loved everything about this simple, gorgeous sweet. 

With POT Cafe’s expansive menu, I’ll need to be back very soon to try more of their offerings… especially that Hello Kitty cake.

POT Cafe

www.eatatpot.com

The Line Hotel

3515 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90010

(213) 381-3030 

A Picture Perfect Birthday Weekend

Over the weekend, I rang in my 25th birthday and celebrated the occasion the best way I know how: surrounded by delicious food and great friends.

My official birthday and party weren’t until Sunday, but my boyfriend wanted to make my big 2-5 an extra special one and planned a surprise “Birthday Adventure” for us on Saturday. The day kicked off with a map showing the location of and activity at each of our stops, but I was left to fill in the blanks. While I was embarrassed to correctly guess only one stop, I was also tickled by the idea of a whole day full of surprises.

For our first surprise stop, we headed downtown to Bread Lounge to fuel up. The new-ish bakery specializes European-style pastries such as croissants and focaccias and, of course, bread. Bread Lounge’s industrial-inspired décor may be sparse, but its menu offerings were anything but. Between the chockfull menu boards and the bountiful display case, we first time visitors needed a few moments to take everything in before narrowing down our options.

Eventually, I zeroed in on the Gringo, a pizza-like focaccia topped with two eggs, bacon, crumbled feta and cherry tomatoes, which was heated to order. Funnily enough, this focaccia was the very reason that Justin decided on Bread Lounge as our first stop. He knows me so well! Boasting a crispy yet pliable crust that rivals some of the best pizzas in the city and generous, hearty toppings, the Gringo was pretty much flawless. With bacon n’ eggs and a latte in our bellies (and a fruit pastry to-go), we set off for our next surprise stop.

Filling our apartment with fresh flowers is one of my absolute favorite indulgences and, for our second stop, we visited the Flower District to stock up.

How funny is this sign?



There’s no flower I love more than the soft, delicate and feminine pink peony and looking out on this sea of them made my heart flutter and nearly caused me to dance through the market Sound of Music-style.

Justin treated me to two bunches of peonies and some hydrangeas, and now they fill every room in our apartment. *Swoon*

My Birthday Adventure itinerary advised me to save room for our third stop, and, when we pulled up to Langer’s Deli, I was glad I listened. Opened in 1947, Langer’s has earned kudos for its pastrami from even the most die-hard New Yorkers and is a spot that I’ve always meant to try but, somehow, never have.

To start, I ordered a Vanilla Egg Cream, soda fountain throwback made with seltzer, milk and vanilla syrup, which was delightfully frothy and sweet.

Langer’s has served more than 4 million pounds of pastrami in its 65 years, and it’s safe to say that much of that was served as a #19, its most popular sandwich. In the #19, a mountain of hand-cut hot pastrami, coleslaw, Russian dressing and Swiss cheese are served on double baked rye bread. Justin and I both loved the tender pastrami and agreed that the crisp, double baked bread was Langer’s secret weapon in the battle for pastrami sandwich domination.

After spending all morning with the human love of my life, I turned my attention to my four-legged one. When Justin and I adopted our dog Mona about two and a half years ago, we noticed that the intake date on her shelter paperwork was coincidentally the same date as my birthday. I took this as a sign that she and I were always meant to be and decided to celebrate her “birthday” on the same day as mine. To celebrate Mona’s special day, we took her to Three Dog Bakery for a doggie sundae and some “pupcakes.” Mona enjoyed herself so much that she got downright stubborn when it came time to leave.

Later, armed only with a suggested dress code and our reservation time, I hopped in the car and we set off for dinner, stopping finally at chef Michael Voltaggio’s ink…but more on that here.

Perhaps my favorite surprise of the entire lovely day was my birthday cake, which was carefully selected by Justin and drew an audible gasp from me when we picked it up from Valerie Confections. Appropriately pink and girly, the Rose Petal Cake was made with vanilla bean cake, rose petal passion fruit ganache, covered in white chocolate glaze and finished with candied rose petals. If you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, you know my obsession with both rose and passion fruit, and I’m hard-pressed to come up with any cake more perfect for the occasion.

On Sunday, I practically had to roll myself out of bed for my party at Sunny Spot…

…but of course found room for a Bottomless Rum Punch and a Two-Fisted Burger…with a fried egg (previously written about here).

As the weekend drew to a close and I headed into the office, I thought my days of birthday gluttony were behind me, but my amazing co-workers had other ideas and ordered a special delivery from Donut Snob (previously written about here).

Where to begin?!

Thank you to my friends and family for celebrating with me and for making my 25th birthday truly the most wonderful one yet. Thank you especially to Justin for planning one of the best days I’ve ever had and to Mona for being your adorable, wiggle-butt self.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some research on juice cleanses to do.

Bread Lounge
www.twitter.com/breadlounge
700 S. Santa Fe Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 327-0782

Langer’s
www.langersdeli.com
704 S. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-8050


Valerie Confections
www.valerieconfections.com
3360 W. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(213) 739-8149


ink
www.mvink.com
8360 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323) 655-7225

Sunny Spot
www.sunnyspotvenice.com
822 Washington Blvd.
Venice, CA 90292
(310) 448-8884

Donut Snob
www.thedonutsnob.com
www.twitter.com/DonutSnob

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Chego

When I first heard whispers that Chego’s Overland location was shuttering rather than merely closing for renovations, I, like many, panicked. Where was my Beefy T bowl going?! What about my Chego Burger?! For some reason (i.e. for very obvious reasons), my tweeted pleas to keep Chego on the Westside proved unfruitful, and the restaurant packed up its pork belly and headed to Chinatown’s Far East Plaza.

Before the restaurant’s grand opening last Saturday, chef Roy Choi and his crew hosted preview dinners, one of which I attended, eager to get my Chego fix.

For the uninitiated, Chego specializes in hearty rice bowls, which Choi refers to as “refrigerator food”– dishes inspired by the leftovers he’d throw together for a snack as a kid. The O.G. Chego menu will be in place for the next few weeks but will soon feature additions that pay homage to the space’s new digs. Think char siu, duck, and other Chinese staples. For our inaugural visit, we went with our old favorites (and my must-order recommendations).

Ooey Gooey Fries: Beer-battered fries with sour cream sambal, monterey jack and cheddar cheese, cotija, chiles, cilantro and pickled garlic ($6.00)

Chubby Pork Belly: Kochujang-lacquered Kurobuta rice bowl with fried egg, pickled radishes, water spinach, Chinese broccoli, cotija and peanuts ($9.00)

Kimchi Spam Bowl: Fried rice with spam, scrambled eggs, baby bok choy, a touch of butter and toasted sesame ($8.00)

 

Steak in the Heart: Prime rib sandwich on grilled ciabatta with wok-seared onions, roasted garlic Irish butter, cheese and salsa verde ($10.00)

 

For a myriad of reasons, Choi’s cooking feels very personal to me, and I’m hard-pressed to list a dining experience even half as comforting as digging into one of these rice bowls. Because of that, I’ll follow Chego anywhere…even to Chinatown.

*Food was hosted.

Chego
www.eatchego.com
727 N. Broadway #117
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(323) 380-8680
*Closed Mondays

Brunch Is Back at Sunny Spot

Simply stated, Sunny Spot makes me happy. With its open air atmosphere, brightly-colored decor and, of course, chef Roy Choi’s island-inspired food, the place just feels like home. While perched atop a floral-patterned stool, bobbing your head to Bob Marley, you feel as though you could easily be on the North Shore of Oahu rather than a busy stretch of Venice near a laundromat, and that, braddah, is choice.

On Saturday, with warm weather on the horizon and the cold on its way out, Sunny Spot re-launched its weekend brunch. As a super fan of both Sunny Spot and Chef Roy (seriously, the man can cook no wrong in my eyes), I was thrilled to be invited to a tasting of their brunch menu.

Muh-F’k’n Mofongo and Eggs: 2 fried eggs, ripe plantains, applewood bacon, fennel, garlic, fresh herbs and ginger oil ($11.00)

Hangover Plate: 2 fried eggs with rice, black beans, avocado mash plantain chips and diablo sauce ($15.00)

Egg Plate: 2 eggs any style, jerk potatoes served with hangar steak (or pork belly) ($15.00)

Roasted Veggie Omelette: Fingerling potatoes, brussels sprouts, cipollini onions and goat cheese ($12.00)

Blueberry Pancakes: Homemade batter with sesame seeds and blueberries ($12.00)

Banana French Toast: Served with maple syrup and rum cream ($12.00)

Diablo Shrimp and Grits: Spicy rum sauce, garlic butter and herbs with 2 fried eggs over grits ($12.00)

Sunfire Chicken Salad: Jerk chicken, butter lettuce, radicchio, arugula, cauliflower, grapefruit, goat cheese and chili vinaigrette ($13.00)

Two-Fisted Cheeseburger: Brioche bun, tomato jam, red onion, arugula, cheddar and herb mayo. You can also add an egg for $1.00! ($13.00)

Cuban Torta: Pork terrine, prosciutto, provolone, pickled jalapeno and mustard ($13.00); Yucca Fries ($5.00)

Steak Sandwich: Grilled skirt steak, avocado mash, jalapeno vinaigrette, mayo and pickled red onions on toasted ciabatta ($16.00); Yucca Fries ($5.00)

Home Skillet Bread Pudding: Ciabatta bread pudding with pears, raisins and coconut, topped with vanilla ice cream ($8.00)

Coconut Creme Brulee: With tarragon lime syrup ($8.00)

Hot Fudge Sundae: Vanilla ice cream, candied peanuts, whipped cream and a luxardo cherry ($6.00)

For brunch, Sunny Spot offers $10 bottomless cocktails. The best news: you can mix and match! Bloody Mary AND mimosa, anyone?

Bloody Mary

Rum Punch

While everything was delicious, the unique touches to the pancakes and French toast transformed them from standard brunch fare into standouts. Similarly elevated by its components was the Sunfire Chicken Salad, which my table mates and I piled onto our plates even with heavier options nearby. Also not to be missed are the Steak Sandwich with perfectly crusty ciabatta and the juicy Two-Fisted Cheeseburger. Oh, and all of the desserts. So, like I said, everything…

Thank you to Chef Roy and Natasha Phan for the fun afternoon and the ono-licious grinds!

*Food and drink were hosted.

Sunny Spot

www.sunnyspotvenice.com

822 W. Washington Blvd. 

Venice, CA 90292

(310) 448-8884

Transmission LA: AV Club with Chef Roy Choi

Chef Roy Choi is taking it to the streets of downtown LA!

From April 20th through May 6th, downtown LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) hosts Transmission LA: AV Club, an exhibit curated by the Beastie Boys’ Mike D. featuring contemporary art (artists include Jim Drain, Benjamin Jones, Mike Mills and Tom Sachs), design, music, film and food. That’s where Chef Roy comes in.

For Transmission LA: AV Club, Roy will run an outdoor pop-up restaurant on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout the event’s run with a different menu at every service.
Stop by for lunch on Thursdays and Saturdays from 11:00AM to 2:00PM or for dinner on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6:00PM to 10:00PM (applicable dates below). Can’t wait to see what Team Choi’s got in store!

MOCA Los Angeles
250 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.moca.org

A-Frame

Last week, A-Frame, a collaboration between Roy Choi (Kogi, Chego) and David Reiss (Alibi Room, The Brig), opened shop in Culver City. Like its co-founders’ previous ventures, the restaurant is decidedly unfussy, employing, instead, a “modern picnic” aesthetic with communal tables and baskets of utensils. A-Frame takes its name from its location’s previous incarnation as an IHOP, but the trademark capital A shape is all the modern space shares with its rooty tooty fresh n’ fruity predecessor; the revamped space is both industrial and unfinished and reminds one simultaneously of both the interior of a Hawaiian hut and that of a wicker picnic basket.

To get the night rolling, J and I began with a Mainland ($10), a cocktailian combination of pisco, liliko’i (passion fruit), lime, egg white and cayenne. Decidedly unique, the drink retained just enough of the liliko’i’s sweetness to counter the tang of the lime and kick of the cayenne.

The menu read like a list of my favorite foods and flavors I grew up with in Hawai’i–including tempura, shrimp and Korean BBQ–but classed up with a Roy Choi pedigree. The menu’s items are linked by their comfort food origins and their place in the urban picnic wherein utensils are optional.

Upon scanning the menu, my eyes were immediately drawn to the Hawaiian-style Furikake Blazin’ J’s Kettle Korn with Warm Butter, Chives and Spices ($5). It warmed my heart to learn that Chef Roy and I share a love for “hurricane popcorn,” and this Kogi-devotee was thrilled to sample his take on the Hawaiian snack. The hurricane popcorn stayed true to its roots with its signature butter and furikake flavor but gained a delightful heat from the addition of spices. Be sure, however, to eat this one quickly; the popcorn quickly grew soggy and weighted down as we munched (although this didn’t stop me from packing up the rest of our bowl to-go).

We also snacked on Sweet Potato and Yam Spears with Sea Salt and Kimchi Sour Cream ($6). Although the wedges themselves were unremarkable (neither crispy nor soft), I found myself unconcerned after dipping one in the stellar kimchi sour cream. The full-bodied, smooth sour cream paired surprisingly perfectly with the spice of the kimchi, creating a sauce so addicting that I continued dipping my finger into it long after the sweet potato and yam spears were gone.

For his entree, J ordered the Cracklin’ “Beer Can” Chicken with Century Egg and Salsa Roja and Verde (half order, $10). “Cracklin'” aptly describes the satisfyingly crispy skin that covered this juicy chicken. After happily ignoring every waistline-conscious warning I’ve heard about eating chicken skin, I turned my attention to the tender chicken and the flavorful verde sauce and reveled in the utensils-optional policy.

The star of the meal, however, was undoubtedly the Korean BBQ Lamb Chops with Citrus Gremolata and Salsa Verde ($18). Despite its healthy char, the lamb chops remained tender, and kalbi flavor added another dimension of deliciosity to the dish–especially when dipped in my old friend the salsa verde. Yes, I know deliciosity is not a word; that is simply how good these were.

Unable to pass on dessert, we ordered the Chu Don’t Know Mang Pound Cake Churros with Cinnamon and Malted Chocolate Milk with Ice Cream ($8). With pound cake as their base, the sugary churros took on a uniquely soft and crumbly texture. Just as street churros benefit from a generous dousing of condensed milk, these churros found their creamy partner-in-crime in the glass of rich malted chocolate milk and ice cream.

Based on our Sunday night dinner, one would never have guessed that A-Frame opened only two days prior. Service was friendly, smooth and speedy, and the dishes were strong. As we dined, Chef Roy nervously paced around the restaurant, peering a diners and seemingly trying to gauge their reaction but speaking to no one. Chef, if A-Frame’s opening weekend is any indication everything will be just fine.

A-Frame

12565 W. Washington Boulevard

Culver City, CA 90066

(310) 398-7700