Pho Cafe, Silver Lake

A bright beacon of glass and light is drawing you near in an otherwise darkened strip mall, Pho Cafe is pulling you in from the street, you're a firefly heading for the white light of 2841 and now you're inside and seated in an orange plastic chair under a 200 watt lamp and looking over the simple yet smartly designed menu. What to order? There are vegetarian options if you're so inclined but pho ga, or chicken pho, seems a good bet and turns out to be very good bet, even better when some fresh basil is shredded into the broth and jalepeno slices are dropped in to give it all some kick. Spring Rolls #3 are filled with lemon grass-grilled beef, shrimp and vermicelli rice noodles and are accompanied by peanut and nuac mam dipping sauces which are both extremely satisfying in that umami-flavored way they have. While it's a freshly made lemonade for me this night, Pho Cafe does have quite a nice selection of Asian beers including several I've not seen before. The people watching is fantastic and the crowd may all work down the street at the Echo Park American Apparel for all I know. It's just that kind of scene.

Pho Cafe
2841 W Sunset Blvd (at Silver Lake Blvd)
Silver Lake
213 413-0888

Les Halles, New York

I'd had cassoulet on my mind lately what with the cold weather and all in LA so when the NY Times mentioned a few places that have it on the menu this season in New York I thought that seeking one of them out would give me some small sense of purpose while on business there last Monday night. So I made my way down to Les Halles, not thinking at first that this was Tony Bourdain's restaurant (or was at one time. I wonder if he's still cooking or if writing best selling books while traveling the world for his cable TV shows has taken over his life? Sounds pretty good to me actually.) At any rate, my friend Rika and I ordered a platter of charcuterie including a mound of rillettes and pâté which I devoured on the crusty bread. Speaking of herring with potatoes, this is what I'm talking about--deliciously oily and smokey herring fillets surrounded with sliced boiled potatoes. Finally, my cassoulet was perfect--white beans slow cooked with pork sausage and confit of duck leg. Zut alors this was good. A couple of glasses each of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and we stumbled back out onto Park Ave into the freezing night just as snowflakes were starting to fall. Not bad for a Monday night at all.

Les Halles
411 Park Ave S
New York, NY
212 679-4111

Wilson, Culver City

Last weekend after stopping off at the new Anderson & Low opening at David Gallery (formerly Apex on La Brea), Jon, Jason and I had dinner at the newly opened Wilson. (I secured a reservation after finishing some shopping at Surfa's earlier that evening and they were turning away people at the door when we arrived for our 8:30 seating. So best to call ahead.) The menu is divided into FoodBar, From the Garden and Entrees. (The restaurant does have about 8 seats at the bar for walk-ins.) We settled on a warm potato/herring salad and special roasted pork belly appetizer which was unctuous and amazing. (I do prefer a smoked herring to the pickled variety Wilson's uses in this classic French pairing but I would still order this again.) I had a house-made pasta with boar ragu which was rich, hearty and pefect on an unusually cold LA night. Jason had perhaps the best entree, a roast lamb shank with white beans and preserved lemons. Jon had a monkfish stew with shrimp and scallops. Jon and Jason drank a glass or two of chianti each while I sipped on prosecco. With a location right in the middle of the up-and-coming Culver City furntiture and gallery district and just down from the acclaimed Beacon, I think Wilson will develop quite a following. I look forward to finding a reason to return.

Wilson
8631 Washington Blvd
Culver City
310 287-2093