Short Order Now Open at the Farmers Market

Short Order, the burger restaurant at the Original Farmer's Market at 3rd & Fairfax recently opened after being in the planning stages for several years.  The concept is a partnership between restaurateur Bill Chait, burger maven Amy Pressman and chef Nancy Silverton.  Pressman was the driving force behind Short Order; she succumbed to cancer shortly before the restaurant opened.  Silverton and Chait moved forward with the restaurant as a tribute to Pressman.  Now the executive chef is Christian Page, formerly of Daily Dose in Downtown Los Angeles.

The heart and soul of the menu at Short Order are the burgers.  Options on offer include the eponymous Short Order Burger, which features a patty of grass-fed beef, morbier cheese, griddled mushrooms, bibb lettuce and mustardy mayo ($12), Nancy's Backyard Burger made with Nancy Silverton's beef blend, artisan bacon, comte cheese, avocado, tomato, onion, iceberg lettuce and spicy mayo ($13), and Ida's Old School Burger made with grass-fed beef, pickles, tomato, griddled onion, iceberg lettuce and secret sauce ($11).  There is a veritable Noah's ark of burger possibilities with lamb, turkey, tuna and pork available in addition to the standard beef.  The burgers are served a la carte, with sides available for an additional price.

The Ida's Burger (pictured above) was tasty when I sampled it the first week Short Order was open.  It was a little rarer than I would have preferred but as the kitchen was still getting up to speed, we didn't expect perfection.  The bun is also of high quality, which is pretty much a given, considering Silverton's involvement.  Silverton was a pastry chef at Spago and founded the La Brea Bakery, before co-founding Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza.  To say she knows bread is an understatement.

In addition to Old School Fries ($3), Short Order Spuds ($4) are also available.  These delicious little fries (above) are a cross between potato skins and tater tots.  Addictive, hot and ready to be dipped into the accompanying sauces.  The Spuds are a must order.

I sampled the Chocolate Malt Shake ($6) which was rich and chocolatey.  I split it with a friend (half portion pictured below) and it was worth every penny and calorie.  Shakes aren't the only beverages on offer.  Up a flight of stairs is a bar where Julian Cox of Rivera, Playa, Sotto and Picca created a cocktail program to complement the food.  Quality cocktails in the farmer's market?  That's all I need to know to know I will be back.

Short Order: 6333 W. 3rd Street, the Farmer's Market (adjacent to Du Par's), Mid City.  Phone: (323) 761-7970.  Website: http://www.shortorderla.com/

Asparagus Steps Into the Spotlight for Its 15 Minutes

As Spring has arrived, the bounty available at our local farmers markets has expanded and there are more varieties of tasty (and healthy) seasonal fruits and veggies available to us here in Southern California.  This week restaurateur Michael McCarty of Michael's restaurant in Santa Monica will be hosting a Market Meet-Up on Wednesday, April 27th that will focus on all things asparagus.

During these monthly meet-up events, McCarty invites participants to his eponymous restaurant to begin the morning with some fresh baked goods before strolling together to the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers’ Market to learn more about what seasonal produce is available, as well as his tips and tricks for navigating the market and selecting the best ingredients. The walk is a scant two blocks, so no need to worry that you have to hike to earn your breakfast.

At the Farmers' Market, McCarty will show you around, introduce you to his favorite farmers, and demonstrate his "top secret" methods of picking the best ingredients. Following the market visit, you will walk back for a late breakfast featuring the monthly ingredient, which as stated above is Asparagus.  After munching away on some tasty asparagus dishes, you'll get the recipes too so you can replicate them at home.

So what dishes will McCarty be whipping up for your pleasure?  You'll begin with the Multiple Tastes of Asparagus: Pickled Pencil Asparagus with Chives Shaved Asparagus Salad with Pickled Ginger Asparagus Soup with Toasted Pistachios.  That is followed up with Seared Halibut: with Asparagus Ravioli, Zuckerman Farm’s Jumbo Green Asparagus and Dutch White Asparagus, Grilled Asparagus Beurre Blanc.  Not too shabby a way to begin your day.

The event costs $60 per person and for that you get hot out of the oven warm cinnamon rolls and cappuccinos, the market tour, breakfast with Michael and a copy of his cookbook as well as recipes to take home. Some vino will be poured to pair with your breakfast.  It all begins at 8:30 am on Wednesday morning at his restaurant, so be there bright eyed and bushy tailed to celebrate asparagus.

Michael's: 1147 Third Street Santa Monica, CA 90403 www.michaelssantamonica.com

Reservations: (310) 451-0843

Short Order: Ida's Burger previewed

Nancy Silverton, the founder of the La Brea Bakery and a co-founder/owner/chef of Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza will be opening a burger restaurant at the Farmer's Market on 3rd & Fairfax in January in the old DuPar's bakery space. Her partners in the venture are chef Amy Pressman, and restaurant investor Bill Chait (Rivera, Louise's).

Last Tuesday at the Taste of the Farmer's Market, Short Order previewed Ida's Old School Burger, made from "Nancy's blend", a blend of hamburger meat that was created for Silverton byHuntington Meats at the Farmer's Market.

Ida's Old School Burger was described as grass fed beef, American organic cheese, pickle chips, lettuce, griddled onion, tomato and secret sauce. The La Brea bakery brioche buns were grilled as well and the beef was of high quality with a real beefy flavor. The hamburger was delicious and I was happy to be able to have more than one.

Pictured above are Pressman and Chait. Below a giant hamburger balloon showed the crowd where to go to sample the dish of the day, Ida's Burger. This dish was the star of the Taste of the Farmer's Market event ($25 and up per person) and despite all the buzz around Silverton and the burgers, the line was surprisingly short when I visited the Short Order booth. The burgers came out in waves, on large trays, were dished out quickly and then the line built up once again.

I look forward to early next year when I can have Short Order burgers on a regular basis.

Santa Monica Farmers Market Panel Series - Spring 2010

Thursday evening the Santa Monica Farmers Market had its Spring 2010 quarterly panel series entitled Menu Minuet: How Chefs and Farmers keep seasonal produce on the plate while maintaining consistency on the menu. LA Weekly restaurant critic Jonathan Gold moderated a panel of restauranteurs Akasha Richmond of Akasha Restaurant in Culver City and Mark Peel of Campanile and the Tar Pit in Los Angeles and farmers Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms and Romeo Coleman of Coleman Family Farms.



The Weisers have been at the Santa Monica Farmers Market since its inception in 1981, when they started out by selling apples. Since then they have diversified their offerings, a strategy also employed by Coleman, which is known for their lettuces and herbs. Both farmers emphasized that offering a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs enables them to diversity their risk and offer more unusual varieties without the danger that the failure of any one crop due to weather or customer tastes would ruin their season.

Mark Peel said that "he is too lazy not to use what is in season. With seasonal ingredients you just don't need to do a lot to them."



In the photo above Chef Mark Peel speaks with Farmer Alex Weiser while Jonathan Gold looks on.

The farmers market has expanded the range of produce available to both restaurants and consumers and many of the farmers have taken it upon themselves to introduce new varieties to the market. Cavallo Nero was virtually unknown here until it appeared at the Santa Monica farmers market. Akasha Richmond said she goes to the market to "but what we need and to buy what is new. I love buying local produce. It is fun; it makes it exciting."

Both farms featured on the panel each grow over 100 varieties of products over the course of the year. Seasonal produce means that products are only available for part of the year, although the growing season here in Southern California is much longer than in other parts of the country. As Peel said, "Peaches in July are exquisite. An epiphany. That's when summer is over, when the last peaches are gone."