FG Lunch Brigade - The Perfect Storm Edition

According to Wikipedia:
A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically. The term is also used to describe an actual phenomenon that happens to occur in such a confluence, resulting in an event of unusual magnitude.

They got that right.

FG10, our Seattle transplant, had been building an astonishing large backlog of amazing places to eat all around town, both through personal experience and by poring over local recommendations.  Normally, her forays are kept to a dull roar by having three picky kids with various food allergies, a husband with a hectic travel schedule, and a diet and exercise regimen that literally scares me.

Then I showed up*.

And it was basically a perfect storm of food**.

Loaded mac n' cheese, with Beecher's Flagship cheddar.  Genius!!!

The bounty of friends - fresh fruit and scones for brunch, cheese, crisp white wine, and almond biscotti for snack

The bounty of Ballard - Insanely good authentic Mexican pozole from La Carta de Oaxaca.  And the dessert place of my dreams***....

On the left, a take-home molten chocolate cake in a mini mason jar.  On the right, a S'mores cookie, with gooey marshmallow, chocolate chunks, and graham cracker crumble.  Not shown:  bacon oatmeal raisin cookie, my enormous butt, salted caramel roll, honey peach rosemary hand pies.

Morning at Pike Place, in all its glory. Knowing we would be having fruit and fish later, we dug into hot cheddar scallion piroshkis, croissants, baked pork bao, and blueberry brown butter cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese icing (the mini ones, because, you know, it was a little early in the day for dessert). After stocking up on cheese, crostini and olive oil at the gourmet Italian food market, we elected to skip a sit down lunch. Not because we weren't up for it, but because we were short on time.

I had a bread class to teach. Those alder-smoked chips came in handy, and so did the berry jam we'd picked up at Pike Place earlier.

We also had a whole salmon to roast. In a very eco-conscious move, we recycled some of the finishing salts from our bread to make the fish:  chili powder - cumin - smoked salt - raw sugar - orange zest - rosemary. Totally gonna bottle that up and sell it.

On my last day in town, I had a healthy breakfast of caramelized grapefruit.

And a burger with bacon jam, creamy blue cheese, and arugula. 

But I didn't eat all the fries.

Let's just say that I need new jeans of enormous magnitude after this visit. And the next time that FG10 and I meet, someone should probably alert the national weather service. It'll be another perfect storm.

*As the expression goes, the situation was aggravated drastically.
** It was also the perfect storm in that my daughter was reunited with her long lost friends for a week. Total mania ensued.
*** Also pirates.

Although most people in Seattle are missing out. When we were talking with two life-long residents about our plans for dinner, they both looked at us like we were crazy:

Them: Ballard? You're going to Ballard just to eat? That's nowhere near here.
Me: (worried) Oh dear. How far is it?
Them: It's gonna take you at least 20 minutes. And you have to cross a bridge.

Needless to say, these two have not been asked to join the Foodie Girls Northwest just yet. Sheesh!

Like Wallace, our vehicle also had a weight problem

There was a bit of a clearance issue getting our tour bus out of the parking lot, but that did stop this dedicated group from pursuing an afternoon of cheese on wheels. I'd done The Doughnut Tour . And The Taco Tour*.  How could I pass up The Cheese Tour**?

As the bus scraped its way onto the freeway, our hostess, Laura, began by passing out hot garlic cheese bread from The Smokehouse Restaurant in Burbank***.   She then poured glasses of Pinot Noir from the San Antonio Winery, the only continuously operating winery in Los Angeles.  The winery stayed open through prohibition by servicing the Catholic churches in the area.  Sonoma may not have much to worry about, but when paired with that crusty, salty bread, the wine seemed mighty fine to me.

Unsure of what exactly would be included in a Cheese Tour, we began to get the idea when the bus dropped us off at Marcona, a relatively new sandwich shop on Melrose.  Collier, the owner, was waiting with platters of custom-made grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches on rustic bread, with a date-Dijon mustard dipping sauce. The sandwich was good, the sauce was inspired, and the ice cold hibiscus-mint-tea-lemonade was outstanding!

The theme of the tour was now becoming clear:

What can you make with cheese?

Answer #2:  Nachos.

 

 

We arrived at El Cholo, where in 1959, a waitress named Carmen first began serving her tables a hometown specialty of chips with melted cheese as a treat while they waited for their food.  The rest, as they say, was history.  I can tell you that 53 years later, we owe Carmen a huge thank you.  Plates of the crisp, thick chips, covered in sharp melted cheddar and sliced jalapeno peppers were inhaled by the group.   So simple, and so perfect.  I also have to give big points to my fellow cheese tourists who managed to toss back a lot of margaritas in our very short allotted visit time. These people are pros.

It turns out, you can also make quesadillas out of cheese.

Or gringadillas, as Dora, from Yuca's in Hollywood, created for us out of creamy brie cheese with mango salsa.  We love Dora.

If you are my hero, you can make crunchy fried mac and cheese balls full of gooey, melty cheese out of cheese. That's what they do at Fred 62 in Los Feliz, where, according to Eric, the restaurant manager, these little nuggets of joy are outsold only by their burger.

Just as we were licking our fingers, a gentleman from Palermo Pizza came on board with piping hot boxes of their specialty, the Pizza Rosa.  Oh. My. God.  You can make this out of cheese, too!

Thick, tender, chewy sourdough crust, mozzarella, feta, Parmesan and tomatoes. That's it. I almost cried, it was so good.  Or it might have been an early warning sign of a cheese overdose.  If it was, I ignored it.

Because we were about to cap off the tour with a visit to an actual cheese shop. Where nothing is made out of cheese, because it's all about the cheese itself.

Our entire group squeezed into Say Cheese, in Silverlake, for a crash course in artisan cheese from Glenn and Jason. We were a wee bit distracted by all the gorgeous olives and wine and caramels and crackers and sausages they had, but when they passed out sampler plates with Humboldt Fog blue, raw cave-aged Gruyére, Artequeso manchego, and a Wisconsin semi-soft cheese called Les Fréres, they had our full attention.  I thought each was my favorite until I moved on to the next. Yum!  

We left with goodie bags and a slice of Gruyére to take home.  Cheese people are super classy, I tell you.  What a way to end the day.

BONUS!  Really want to feel like part of the tour? Take the simple "Eat your way through LA" Cheese Quiz.  There will be a prize at the end.  Ready?

List the country of origin for the following cheeses:

1. Parmigiano Reggiano
2. Gouda
3. Gruyére
4. Manchego
5. Stilton
6. Roquefort
7. Havarti
8. Jarlsberg
9. Cotija
10. Paneer.

If you got them all right, you, too, could win a box of Velveeta cheese and shells.  But you'd miss out on the fun of having them hand delivered by John B., the foodie tourist's best friend.

Don't miss out. To get on the list for upcoming "Eat Your Way Through LA Tours", like them on Facebook.

* The Taco Tour, in photos:

** I didn't have my normal camera with me, so the photos are not quite as comprehensive as usual.  Hopefully, you still got a sense of the cheesy goodness of that wonderful afternoon. 

*** My favorite Smokehouse story, told to us by a waitress when my husband and I went there years ago:  A patron becomes ill while dining at the restaurant during a busy lunch hour.  His companion rushes to his side, turns around and calls, "Is there a doctor in the house?"  The entire cast of "E.R" is at the next table, totally useless.  

**** Answers:  Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, England, France, Denmark, Norway, Mexico, India.

A three-ish hour tour

With apologies to the original:

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a tasty trip

That started from a parking lot

Aboard this very nice bus.

The guide was a mighty chatty man

The skipper kind and sure

We passengers set off that day

For an LA doughnut tour, an LA dough-nut tour*

The first stop was at Twin Castles, aye!

We were suitably impressed

For many of this discerning crew

Their doughnuts were the best, their doughnuts were the best**

The bus went round the 405 to the world famous Stan's

With Maple Logs

And fritters, too***

Banana filled with cream

Buttermilk bars

Peanut butter and chocolate too!****

Inhaled 'fore we'd gone a mile

Tres hip was the place that we went next

With goodies baked not fried

They serve Earl Gray spiced blueberry*****

(fonuts) will make a foodie cry

From there we walked our butts to Bob's

Inside a market filled with lore

Their classic glazed was delectable

More ice cold milk was poured

Downtown, big line, no wait for us

The Nickel Diner crew came through,

With maple bacon doughnut holes

And tales wild and true

The group was full, the prizes done

Every face had a big grin

The bus of sugar-filled people begged,

"When can we go again?!"

For a blow-by-blow account, watch the slideshow:

To eat yourself silly, follow the map:

View The Doughnut Tour! in a larger map

* Thank you to my friend Andrea for introducing me to John and Laura, who put together a truly amazing morning.  We were treated like doughnut royalty everywhere, with personal greetings from the owners, special tastings, and one delicious treat after another.  There were trivia contests (I won a pound of coffee for correctly guessing that there are 820 independent doughnut shops in Los Angeles County), historical tidbits, cold milk and great company provided.  They are putting together a Taco Tour at the end of March. Yowza! 
** Could have been the coffee that was included, and the fact that Laura made sure we each were served our very favorite kind of doughnut here.
*** Best apple fritter I've ever had - especially the crispy outside bits with the tender apples and flaky sugar glaze.  But one or two bites is all you need. Otherwise you'll fall into a sugar coma.
**** Now named for its biggest fan, Huell Howser.
***** And salted caramel, rosemary olive oil, chorizo cheese, fresh strawberry buttermilk...my God, this menu!!