Stuzzichini By The Beach

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Stuzzichini By The Beach

Superba Snack Bar  Venice  www.superbasnackbar.com

sum up: A pastaria by the beach mixing Old World technique with New World style. Come for the extraordinary pasta, stay for the housemade charcuterie and produce-driven dishes.  Thanks to Chef Jason Neroni's culinary chops, this neighborhood joint is jumpin' jumpin'. 

looks: Sun-soaked by day, candlelit by night, the award-winning interior is cool without being cold, thanks to an open-kitchen, communal tables, and Mexican blankets to keep you warm on chilly nights.  Nab a seat on the patio to watch Venice skate and strut by.

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This Little Restaurant From A Market

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This Little Restaurant From A Market

"Our produce, meat and seafood comes from farms, ranches and fisheries guided by principles of sustainability"  

This credo lines the menu at Cortez, the new, pint-sized restaurant on the edge of Echo Park. Phrases of this sort, peppered with utopian, food lingo--seasonal, local, organic--have become standard practice all over town.  Yet, how does a diner know if they are true?

Considering that Cortez is run by the pair who own Cookbook, the neighborhood's green grocer, the the proof is in the product. Cookbook's shelves are stocked--by owners Marta Teegan and Robert Stelzner--with artisan cheese & charcuterie, fresh-picked produce, and grass-fed beef. Each visit makes me feel like a kid in a candy store, yet instead of sweets, I swoon for caperberries, purple cauliflower, and olive bread.  

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Good Gallic In A Petite Package

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Good Gallic In A Petite Package

buvette  noun (f)

1. a refreshment stall or counter

2. a snack bar at a theater, train station, beach, etc.

In French, and English for that matter, the diminutive "ette" connotes feminine (coquette) or little (cigarette), so it is implicit that buvettes are small.  Buvette, Jody Williams' Gallic gem, is indeed petite, but that's all it has in common with it's casual joints across the Atlantic.  Chef Williams' version--which she calls a gastrothèque-- is a pleasure chest of French delights, from fresh-baked croissants and housemade charcuterie, to classic coq-au-vin and cassoulet. 

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Get Your Thrill At Red Hill

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Get Your Thrill At Red Hill

3 days.  That's how much time passed between my first and second visit to Red Hill. Normally, if I enjoy my inaugural dining experience, I vow to come back soon, but then get distracted by new openings, random cravings, and my ever-growing list of Places I Want To Try. It can take months to return. Not so at Red Hill, the 4-month young Echo Park restaurant, where my first time was such a charm, I was lured back immediately.

 

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