Brunch by Way of the Mediterranean

Momed, the Modern Mediterranean restaurant and cafe on South Beverly Drive, recently added a prix fixe brunch ($14.50) on the weekends that includes a choice of brunch entree and either orange juice or Intelligentsia single origin coffee.  The brunch selections are not your standard fare of scrambled eggs or pancakes but variations of what might be found on breakfast tables in Turkey and the Levant. 

The most familiar offering may be the Challah French Toast prepared with house-made challah, date syrup, and a fruit salad of sliced bananas, dates and nuts.  The fresh challah was light and airy and the date syrup added a rich element to the dish.  The fruit provided a refreshing counterpoint.

The Khachapouri may be the most unusual breakfast offering.  These traditional breakfast flatbreads are offered in two varieties: Kaseri cheese, scrambled eggs and onions with dried mint and sumac or Spicy soujuk sausage, scrambled eggs, Halloumi cheese and kalamata olives.  Soujuk is a spicy dried ground beef sausage that is the breakfast meat of the Eastern Mediterranean.  The soujuk version was delicious with the warm flaky bread filled with the mixture of cheese, sausage and eggs.  This dish is sharable and a recommended part of your brunch visit.  

The other option I particularly recommend is the Shashuka, eggs baked over oven roasted tomatoes, peppers and onions.  The dish was served at the table in a skillet and the tomatoes dominated the flavor but that was fine.  The dish is seasoned with spiced and is hearty and flavorful without being too heavy.

In addition to the classic Intelligentsia Coffee, Momed makes a mean Turkish Coffee (above) if you want a pick-me-up to begin your morning.  And if you want a sweet bite to send you on the road, the baklava (below) is a nice option.  Stick with the standard type however, as the butterscotch version was not as good.  The classics are classics for a reason.

Other options for the Prix Fixe brunch are Skillet Omelettes with your choice of fillings (including barrel aged feta), Breakfast Hand Roll with eggs, Akawi cheese, Aleppo chili, tomatoes and mint in a pita, or the Mediterranean Morning Plate with barrel aged feta, halvah, labneh, olives, cucumber, tomatoes and honey with pita and preserves.

A tasty way to begin the weekend, no matter what you choose.  Best of all if your brunch companions are in a sharing mood you can try them all.

Momed: 233 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills.  Phone: 310.270.4444 | Website: atmomed.com

Happy Hour Arrives at Bar Bouchon

Bar Bouchon in Beverly Hills has a new happy hour menu that should put smiles on many hungry folks faces.  I may not be able to order a Petit Sandwich au Fromage Grille with a straight face, (that would be grilled cheese to the English speaking residents of LA) but $6 for a grilled cheese sandwich on brioche is not a bad deal for the 90210.  Even better, the French take on a Steak Tartare sounds delicious and savory with capers and cornichons ($9).

The setting on a pocket park facing the Montage Hotel has the feel of a quiet corner in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.  So heft up your $5 brew and dig into your steak tartare.  There is much to be happy about with this menu.  Monday - Friday from 4 - 7 pm.

Bar Bouchon: 235 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills.  Phone: (310) 271-9910.

Kiyokawa Sushi in Beverly Hills: Precision with Warmth

Imagine entering the sushi bar where all is quiet after leaving the noise of the street behind.  Where a sushi master is waiting to prepare a meal for you from the freshest fish.  A private restaurant that is yours for the night.  The chef sending out dish after dish of pristine fish as you sit in front of him and happily eat, with the whole restaurant dedicated to you.  That is what I experienced on Monday night.  Did I buy this meal at a benefit?  Was I dining at Urusawa?  No, I walked in off the street at Kiyokawa and had the rare luxury of literally having the talented chef and restaurant at my disposal as there were no other customers.  Chef Sato (above) created a wonderful shellfish-free meal that I will be thinking about for some time.

Following some miso soup, which was served in a cup, the meal began with four kinds of sushi.  Each one was lightly sauced by Chef Sato, so no additional soy sauce was needed.  The halibut (top left) was particularly noteworthy.  The journey had begun and I knew I was in capable hands.

Dramatically presented on a plate with a Spanish Mackerel were five pieces of sushi, including one with caviar and gold, onion with cooked onions (middle right) and two with freshly grated wasabi.  Sato spoke about the importance of using all ingredients of high quality - why put commercial wasabi paste on pristine fish?  So the rice was at just the right temperature and he uses a sharkskin grater to make fresh wasabi paste for his sushi.  The Spanish Mackerel was only exceeded by the yellowtail.

The nigiri portion of the meal concluded with toro and salmon belly sushi.  The toro was unctuous and had that melt in your mouth quality that comes from its sheer fattiness.  The wasabi enriched the marbled fish and brought out more of the deep flavor and wonderful mouthfeel.  The salmon did not dissapoint either, although the toro was more exceptional.

I had asked for ikura as part of my meal and so at this point in my meal I was presented with a small bowl of salmon roe on top of a bed of rice.  The salmon roe had been marinated for over six hours in soy sauce and several other ingredients in the chef's secret recipe and each egg had the great pop you get from the best roe. When I was done, there was not a grain of rice or an egg of roe left in the small bowl.  I could have eaten a large bowl of this ikura don.

I added in a foie gras course, having noticed it on the menu when I came in.  The foie was pan cooked and then draped over rice, nigiri style, and wrapped with a small piece of nori.  Thinly sliced black truffle completed the dish.  This was rich and sweet, a luxurious dessert.

The final savory component of the meal was a negitoro handroll, chopped up toro with scallions and rice wrapped up in seaweed.  Much preferable to an ice cream cone.  This course was surprisingly just ok, not as amazing as the previous.

The final course of the evening was dessert: yuzu sorbet.  The sorbet was presented in a champagne flute, and the acidity of the yuzu was a pleasant way to conclude the meal.  It was hard to leave after such a luxurious and delicious meal.  Chef Sato was gracious during the meal, happily speaking about the fish, the restaurant and his philosophy.  This was omakase tailored to the customer, not the assembly line style that so many sushi restaurants in LA, even highly regarded ones have.  Those spots give everyone the same thing, most commonly ending with a blue crab hand roll.  Here not only was ikura built into my meal, and shellfish left out, but my reactions to the individual fish determined the next course's contents.  Also, the chef was personable, and felt no need to play the brusque sushi master "role" so often see in Los Angeles.

Having the restaurant to myself was an unexpected delight not likely to be repeated, although I know I will be back soon for another meal at the sushi bar, even if I have to share the restaurant (and the chef) with other customers.  I reluctantly relinquished my seat at the bar and stepped out into the night, full, happy and relaxed.

Kiyokawa: 265 S. Robertson, just South of Wilshire, Beverly Hills. Phone: (310) 358-1900. Website: www.kiyokawarestaurant.com

First Look: Red Medicine

Red Medicine, the much hyped Vietnamese restaurant from Umami Burger owner Adam Fleischman and Chef Jordan Kahn, opened two weeks ago on Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills.  The restaurant, which was showcased extensively at Test Kitchen, is their "homage" to and interpretation of Vietnamese food.  The founders make no claim to authenticity, rather they are making the kind of food that they crave and find satisfying.

The bar is open until 2 am, an oasis for late night food and drink in the area.  The cocktail list is in continual development, with seven signature drinks currently available, each priced at $10.  They include several numbered from 18 to 28, as Red Medicine does not name its cocktails.  The bar menu also includes several items from the restaurant menu and one dish only available at the bar, Banh Mi.  On a recent visit, the favorite dish of several dining companions was the Bahn Mi from the bar, so if you are a pork eater, it may pay to build in time at the bar to eat it, before you sit down for your main meal.

The restaurant dishes are designed for sharing and menu sections include Hands, Cold, Protein and Veg.  There is also a single "Large Format" option reserved for parties of 5 or more.  The evening we went, the large format dish was Beef Brisket.  The dishes in the Hands section are not surprisingly meant to be eaten with your hands, although this does not mean that they are not carefully composed.  The Beef Tartare from that section was as elegant if not more so than anything else we ate during our meal.  The fine dining background of Chef Jordan Kahn and General Manager Noah Ellis show in the plating of the dishes, which is anything but rustic.

The Beef Tartare was my favorite dish of the evening.  The tartare is presented in a straight line covered with mustard leaf, water chestnuts, spicy herbs and nuoc leo (peanut sauce).  Chlorophyll is a parallel green line on the plate.  A bowl of chips is presented in a bowl alongside, to use as a serving device for the tartare.  The tartare is nicely spiced with some heat, and the crunch of the chip is a pleasant textural contrast to the other elements of the dish.

Another highlight is the Green Papaya Salad ($9) from the Cold section, with pickled roots, crispy taro, tree nuts and nuoc cham.

Duck ($16) from the Protein section is a five spiced duck with charred frisee, chicory, tamarind syrup, grains of paradise.  This is a small dish; note the charred lettuce.

The beautiful and careful plating is in evidence in the Fluke ($16), which is cured with lime leaf and served with radishes, charred cucumber and pine needles. (below)

We ordered the Brisket with anticipation as the Large Format section requires 5 people to order it and it sounded special.  The dish is described as Snake River Farms American Wagyu Beef Brisket, Glazed with Palm Sugar & Fish Sauce.  It was brought to the table with lettuce, carrots, pickles and dipping sauce, to create individual lettuce wraps.  The presentation was compelling as the main dish was surrounded by a constellation of components.  The brisket was good, but not as delicious as I had hoped.  The concept reminded me of the large format dishes at Momofuku in New York City, but was not in that league.  The brisket would have benefited from more juice/moisture.

The picture below does not do justice to the Coconut Bavarois, which comes in a glass with coffee, condensed milk, thai basil, peanut croquant and chicory. The flavors and textures in this dessert transcend the dessert category to be a great dish, period.  I am not a dessert person, but this was wonderful.  Chef Kahn was a pastry chef at Varietal in New York and most recently at Michael Mina's XIV here in Los Angeles, and his skill with desserts shows.

The beef tartare and the Coconut Bavarois are must orders.  A dinner at Red Medicine is not inexpensive, but several of the dishes are very much worth it and it is great to see an ambitious chef put his own stamp on his cuisine here in Los Angeles.  My next visit is more likely to be in the bar to get the tartare and a beer or cocktail, rather than the dining room due to the price point / value.

Red Medicine: 8400 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills.  Phone: (323) 651-5500.  Website: redmedicinela.com

Deals at the Peninsula Hotel Rooftop Bar Tonight

Tonight the rooftop bar at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills will feature a special happy hour from 5 - 7 pm, for the second week in a row. The drinks will all be half off, and there will be special deals on tickets for the upcoming Taste of Beverly Hills.



The Rooftop Bar is adjacent to the pool on top of the luxury hotel. Drinks, which are normally $16, are only $8 (+tax). The ambiance is comfortable and there is even a firepit to lounge around and enjoy the view and comfortable environment.



At last week's drinks event, Peninsula Executive Chef James Overbaugh spoke about how excited he is about the upcoming Taste of Beverly Hills. At this special happy hour, tickets will be buy one get one free for individual session tickets. For those who don't want to miss a thing, there will also be discounts for the whole weekend tickets aka Festival Passes.

The Taste of Beverly Hills will be Thursday September 2nd - Sunday September 5th. You can learn all the details at their website. In the meantime, why not end the day and begin the evening with a well priced cocktail in an elegant setting, and get a great deal on Taste of Beverly Hills tickets at the same time?

Culina at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills

Culina, Modern Italian, the new restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel at Beverly Hills, opened in March with chef Victor Casanova at the helm, following a $30+ million renovation of the property. Casanova came to the Four Seasons after two years at Il Terrazzo at the Phoenecian in Scottsdale, Arizona. I had the opportunity to have a meal there last week for a celebration dinner. We ordered a variety of dishes, most of which were good and some of which were excellent.

We BYO'd a 1996 vintage bottle of Dom Perignon, which was a wonderful way to begin the meal. The corkage fee which had been a punishing $50 at opening, is now a much more reasonable $25. The delicate bubbles made this an exceptional champagne. The sommelier was very gracious about our BYO and did not pressure us to buy bottles off of the list.



While we looked at the menu, we ordered the Quattro Formaggi pizza (above), with smoked provolone, mozzarella, fontina and parmigiano reggiano. It was a good way to begin the meal and the cheeses had nice assertive flavors. The pizza arrived in no longer than the ten minutes we were told it would, and it was an ample size to share.



We then shared three appetizers, the Ravioli with sweet corn packets, mascarpone and sage brown butter; the Fiori di Zucca (squash blossoms, ricotta, tomato-mint condimento) and the Ricciola crudo (yellowtail, star anise oil and orange sea salt). The ravioli pictured above was the star dish of the evening and one of the best dishes I have eaten all year. The corn was so sweet and the mascarpone did not overwhelm it and the brown butter sauce just brought it all together. I could have eaten another serving of the dish as my entree and been happy. The corn flavor was just so clean and sweet, but with no cloying.



The squash blossoms were stuffed with ricotta cheese and served with a pitcher of tomato sauce. They were light and not greasy and the tomato sauce complemented it well. Not as good as the squash blossoms at Pizzeria Mozza, but very enjoyable.

The yellowtail crudo (below) was tasty and fine but the consensus was that it just wasn't as special as the other dishes, although it was beautifully plated on a rectangular glass dish.



The Manzo bone-in ribeye (pictured below) was also exceptionally good. It is a 16 oz. Niman Ranch bone in rib-eye with aromatic herbs served with heirloom tomatoes and shaved parmigiano reggiano on top. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and the meat was very flavorful, with good seasoning. One of the best steaks I have had in Los Angeles. I enjoyed the heirloom tomatoes as well. We ordered the tuscan fries as a side (contorni) and they were a rare miss with no flavor whatsoever.



Below is the pappardelle with slow braised lamb ragu, pecorino and mint. This dish was a favorite of the LA Times and I enjoyed it very much. The sauce was plentiful and the pasta was al dente. However, it was not as good as the best pasta with lamb ragu that I have recently eaten at The Tasting Kitchen in Venice, which was more lusty and flavorful. This pasta was less bold, and not especially memorable like the corn ravioli we had eaten earlier in the meal.



Another successful dish was the Abbacchio allo Scottadito (below), lamb chops with sardinian fregola, pimenton and mint pesto. The nicely cooked chops were on a bed of fregola, a Sardinian semonila pasta that is like couscous. The lamb had a real lamby flavor and the chops had been nicely trimmed to remove the fat.



Lombatina Capricciosa, pounded bone-in veal chop with a ciabatta crust, arugula, sweet tomatoes and parmigiano reggiano is pictured below. This dish was enormous with the bone jutting out Flinstones style. The breaded chop was served with the greens, tomatoes and cheese on top. The chop was good, but not as tasty as the ribeye or the lambchops, but that may be because I don't find breading to add anything to a nice cut of meat like this chop.



The Branzino came with tomatoes, capers and lemon. The fish fillet was served on a square white plate without much accompaniment, in an almost stark presentation. Spinach (not pictured) was ordered as a side and was enjoyed by the fish eater at the table.



We shared the Nuvola di Riso, described as rice cloud with berries. The rice pudding had an interesting texture and the berries were fresh and sweet.



Overall the meal was a success, with everyone enjoying the food. The room was attractive and for a midweek meal, the room was full and stayed full past 9 pm, which is a good thing and alas all to rare in Los Angeles. The service was good for the most part. At one point it was difficult to get a waiter's attention for several minutes when we wanted share plates but was otherwise attentive.

Outside there is an attractive patio with a number of tables and coolest looking heat lamps that I have ever seen with flames flickering in them.

The only complaint we had was that it took more than 15 minutes to get our car from the hotel valet as we waited outside on a cold evening. I expect more organization from the Four Seasons operation, but this is in no way the fault of the restaurant, although they should be aware of it as it is the last impression of the business that their customers receive.

Note that the hotel is technically in Los Angeles, and only across the street from the city limits of Beverly Hills, but is still known by locals as the Four Seasons Beverly Hills.

Culina is located in the Four Seasons Hotel: 300 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills. Phone: (310) 860-4000. Website: culinarestaurant.com

Thomas Keller does Hamburgers

Thomas Keller, the chef/owner of the French Laundry in Napa Valley, has been talking about opening a burger restaurant for years. In 2006 when Ad Hoc opened, it was supposed to be a temporary restaurant (an incredible placeholder) until his "Burgers and Half Bottles" would take that space. But Ad Hoc became so popular that it couldn't be closed, and the burger concept has still not come to fruition as its own establishment.

Thursday night, at Bouchon in Beverly Hills, hamburgers went onto the menu for the first time at a Keller restaurant, that I am aware of. These burgers are only available Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings after 9 pm. The burgers are ground on-site from a combination of cuts of beef (sirloin, brisket and chuck.) They are served with a mountain of Bouchon's famous french fries.

The first burger ordered went to a well known local chef who tried to order one at 7:30 on Thursday evening. No dice. So just after 9 pm, Chef de Cuisine Rory Herrmann brought out the first burger to the appreciative customer who had already eaten a full meal in the interim. There were no leftovers.

Last night a compatriot and I went to Bouchon to try this burger for ourselves. It is $21 and is not on the written menu. The idea is somewhat reminiscent of the midnight burger at Pulino's in New York or the 10 pm burger at Holeman & Finch in Atlanta, but don't worry there is no bullhorn at Bouchon, and no limit on how many burgers they will serve in an evening.

Our burgers arrived, beautifully presented, but alas overcooked. We sent them back and they were very gracious about it. They grilled us new ones and in the interim sent out Salade de Melon (summer melon salad with French feta, picholine olives, arugula & citrus vinaigrette) and Salade de Tomates (heirloom tomato salad with English cucumber, grilled red onion & young basil. Both were very good and the melon had been pressed to give it an intensity of flavor and color.

Then the main attraction arrived: two burgers cooked perfectly to medium rare. The meat was nicely seasoned and was loosely packed. The burgers had been cooked quickly and chef Hermann told us he was trying to get the same level of doneness the whole way through the burger, rather than the traditional way of having the exterior be significantly more well done than the middle.

The burgers are beautifully presented (I had mine without the tomato) and served with enough french fries to feed several normal people or half of the women in Beverly Hills. The overall verdict was that the burgers were quite good. I prefer the burger I had a few months ago at Comme Ca, because it had some char on the outside while still being medium rare in the center. If you are into char on your burgers, these are not the burgers for you, as that is not the effect that Chef Hermann is going for. I'll have this burger again, perhaps splitting it with someone, so I have room to eat more of the menu, such as the legendarily decadent foie gras in a jar.

We were pleased to see that in addition to the Animal sauce (ketchup, mayo, cornichons), Heinz ketchup was served (in small bowls, not bottles). As Hermann said, why mess with recreating something that everyone already knows and loves.

We sat outside on the balcony, which I think are some of the best seats in the house. There are heatlamps if you get cold, its quieter and you get the great view of the gardens and the Montage hotel.

Bouchon Beverly Hills is at 235 N Canon Drive. Phone: (310) 271-9910. Website: www.bouchonbistro.com

Luksusowa @ Nic's - Vodka Tasting in the 90210

Luksusowa, the best selling potato based vodka in the world, had a tasting last week at Nic's Martini Lounge in Beverly Hills. The Polish vodka was not shy about its potato origins (see photo above) and Southern California rep Heather Sturm and Nic's owner Larry Nicola led the assembled thirsty crowd through a tasting of various vodkas made with different grains to experience the difference in flavors.

Larry Nicola (pictured above with Sturm) is passionate about vodka, the featured spirit at Nic's. While many mixology bartenders have had little love for vodka since the cocktail renaissance, especially due to the appletini and cosmo craze of the late 1990s and early oughts, vodka producers have sought to educate the bartending and cocktail communities about the flavor profiles of their products, which are not all flavorless and odorless. The Luksusowa tasted light and clean a contrast to the sweet flavor of Svedka, the truly tasteless Sky and the harsh finish of the Sobieski, which were among the six vodkas provided to sample.

A signature of Nic's is the VodBox, a vodka tasting room at freezing temperature. Due to the cold temperature, they give each imbiber a warm jacket to wear while in the room. Several dozen vodkas are available to be sampled in the small windowed room.

It was disappointing that the Luksusowa global brand ambassador Matthew Pomeroy, who was scheduled to present, was unable to attend due to flight delays from Europe.

Charles Vexenat, a bartender originally from Burgundy and now based in London, mixed several cocktails featuring Luksusowa including the Basil Smash (pictured above), which included the Strawberry Basil Smash (pictured above) and the Orange Mule, which included fig jam, orange juice, lime, vodka, and ginger beer.

Parking for Nic's is easy. There is an underground lot with 2 hrs free parking underneath the Crate & Barrel complex, with driveway access on both Beverly Drive and Canon Drive.

Nic's Martini Lounge is located at 453 N Canon Drive @ Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills. Phone: (310) 550-5707

Momed - Casual Mediterranean in Beverly Hills

Momed, a casual "Modern Mediterranean" (hence the name Momed) cafe recently opened on South Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. It is open continuously from breakfast through dinner, with breakfast served 8:00 - 11:30 AM, and the lunch/dinner menu from 11:30 AM - 9:00 PM. There are also nightly dinner specials available in addition to the regular menu.

Last week I had dinner there with a confederate and we each ordered from the "skewers" section of the menu, which in addition to the skewered meat come with house made pita, rice pilaf or momo chips, and one of the marketplace salads. The extensive selection of salads are the heart of the menu. They include beet, cucumber, hummus, avocado hummus, carrot, lentil and about a dozen more.



We got the lamb and beef koefte skewer with herb salad (pictured above) and the yogurt marinated chicken breast with chickpea aioli (pictured below). The "momo" potatoes are delicious versions of french fries but are cross sectioned rather than cut into french fry shaped. I had the cucumber salad, which had a pleasing zing to it from some hot peppers. The fries were hot and delicious.

The chicken skewer was a winner as well and they permitted us to sub a second market salad for the starch. I sampled the beet salad which was well prepared and refreshing. The portions of the skewers while not large, are enough for those of normal appetites, especially with the sides of salad and potatoes. Harissa and tomato sauce are both available upon request for the momo potatoes.

Each of the skewer plates we tried was $14. Tuna costs $16 and Shrimp or steak is $18. You can also get a selection of three of the signature salads for $15. We saw some pizza-like flatbreads at neighboring tables that looked delicious and would make an excellent appetizer to share. I am intrigued by the flatbread with Ohanyan spicy soujuk sausage, red onion and piquillo peppers with halloumi cheese. The sausage is cured and made with beef and lamb.

Momed also serves Intelligentsia Coffee, so if you are in the neighborhood, there is no need to go to Silverlake or Venice to get your fix, as they have been trained by the educators/trainers of Intelligentsia in their method and style. Momed also sells the whole beans.

Momed is a very attractive space; much nicer than other restaurants in this category (whether middle eastern or tender greens style spots). You order at the counter and a server brings the food to your table. Service was friendly and they leave a pitcher of water on your table for easy refills.

Momed is located at 233 South Beverly Drive (@ Charleville) in Beverly Hills. Phone: (310) 270-4444. Website: www.atmomed.com

Hooked on Hook's 15 Yr Aged Cheddar

I'd been hearing great things about Hook's Cheddar from the Hook's Cheese Company of Wisconsin for a while and finally got to try their 12 year aged Cheddar on New Year's eve which I enjoyed very much. At Surfas in Culver City this week, I saw they had the elusive 15 year cheddar which is only made and released in small quantities. Despite the cost ($95/lb) I gulped and purchased a quarter of a pound in the name of research and to further celebrate the wonders of cheese during grilled cheese month.

The Hook's 15 year cheese is a sharp cheddar that is crumbly (this is not a cheese you can expect nice and even slices from), salty and has a lot of calcium crystals which give the texture an extra oomph. It has a very strong cheddar flavor and unlike some of the cheese you can find that is labeled sharp (I'm looking at you Trader Joes), this cheddar cheese lives up to its description.

Hook's Cheese is a family owned and operated small business based in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, about an hour Southwest of Madison, in the Southwestern corner of the state. Tony & Julie Hooks are the owners/founders/operators and have been making cheese since 1976, winning many awards over the years.

Hook's also produces 10 and 12 year aged cheddars, which can be purchased locally in Los Angeles. Their blue cheese is especially spreadable. The 15 yr can be purchased less expensively at the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills for $75/lb. They also carry the 12 yr for $50/lb. The CheeseStore of Silverlake carries the 10 yr for $35/lb and the 12 yr for $50/lb.

Cheese Store of Beverly Hills: 419 N Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. Phone: 310.278.2855, Website: http://www.cheesestorebh.com/
CheeseStore of Silverlake: 3926 W Sunset Blvd (sunset junction), Silverlake. Phone: 323.644.7511, Website: http://www.cheesestoresl.com/
Surfas: 8777 W Washington Blvd, Culver City. Phone: 310.559.4770. Website: http://www.surfaslosangeles.com/

Cart for a Cause: Nobu Edition

Tuesday March 23rd was the first day of operation of Cart for a Cause. This is a temporary gourmet truck that will operate on Tuesdays and serve gourmet lunches from shnazzy chefs for $10. The beneficiary of the cause is St. Vincent's Meals on Wheels, a Catholic charity based in downtown LA which brings meals to the housebound. According to LA Weekly's SquidInk Blog, $6.50 of each meal goes to the charity.

Nobu Los Angeles was the first restaurant/chef up and they will be returning this coming Tuesday as well. The location was behind the UTA building on Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills, the same building as the Niketown, just off Rodeo Drive.

There were three options: sushi with black cod, sushi with chicken skewers, and a field green salad with shrimp. All the lunches also came with a drink, either bottled water or one of the pomegranate beverages from Pom, who is one of the sponsors. (Pom corporate sibling Fiji Water and Lexus are also sponsors). I opted for the sushi with chicken skewers. The skewers came with two types of sauce, a red sauce that was mildly spicy and a darker one that reminded me of teriyaki sauce.

It was incongrous to see a nun hanging out at a food truck. But she was there to represent the cause. A reasonably sized line had developed by the 12:30 launch time and after a suitable number of photo ops, the food distribution began. They only had 150 portions and sold out within an hour. I was told by a friend who went by too late that by the time he got there only the shrimp salad was left.

The sushi was 3 pieces of spicy tuna roll and 3 pieces of salmon and avocado maki. According to the Cart for a Cause facebook page, the two sauces/skewers were anticucho & kushiyaki.

After next week's Nobu round 2, other chefs will be taking weekly turns. They will apparently be using other locations to park the cart in future weeks as well. Note: the best parking option is to park in Via Rodeo's underground valet parking lot. They have 2 hour free parking, no validation required, and the only cost is the valet tip. It is less than a 5 minute walk to the UTA driveway from there.