C&O's Trattoria, Marina Del Rey

C&O’s Trattoria – Marina Del Rey

Where can you meet a friend for lunch in L.A?  Let’s narrow it down to West L.A.  When Dana lived in Venice Beach, she introduced us to C&O’s Trattoria.  There are 2 location on Washington Blvd.  We have only been to the one at 31 Washington Blvd.  It is one block from the Venice Beach Pier parking lot.  Betty, Dana, Charlie and the boys and I went there it meet our friend Shamarcus.  He was visiting from Alaska.  Betty and I had Dana’s boys in tow.  I was determined to find a parking place that I would not have to pay for or at least one that I would not have to jump up in the middle of lunch and put more money in the meter.  I did find an open parking place that was not metered.  We had been driving for a couple hours and I was ready for a little walk.  But Betty and the boys were not ready for a marathon walk like what we had from the parking place I found.  After 12 blocks, I apologized and I really did not know it was so far from the restaurant.  I parked in the first open space I found.  The problem was we walked past numerous open spaces between our car and the restaurant.  Betty was really getting pissed.  It was one of those “just don’t talk to me right now” moments.  “Sorry, I didn’t realize I parked so far away”.  It turned out that there is $9 all day parking at the pier ½ block away.  I recommend the pier parking to keep peace in the family.  When we saw Shamarcus’ smiling face, we all cheered up.  The dining at C&O’s is outside in a courtyard.  It was cool in the shade, but they had heaters. 

The Italian dishes and salads are wonderful.  They serve little bread rolls that are buttered or oiled and I could make a meal out of those.  I had the Eggplant Parmigianino. It was a generous portion served with steamed veggies and a little spaghetti and marinara sauce.  I had a glass of red table wine which paired just right with the rich marinara sauce. Betty had a great salad and Shamarcus had a big bowl of rigatoni. Charlie had a burger.  I looked like a good quality burger but it was dry.  I like sauce on my burgers.  But I would not order a burger at an Italian Restaurant.   We have had at least 3 memorable meals at C&O’s at this location. 

http://www.cotrattoria.com

The walk along the Venice pier and boardwalk is the most entertaining part of our visit.  It’s a short walk along the boardwalk to the muscle beach area where there are people playing basketball and bodybuilding on the beach.  And all the stores are a trip especially the medical marijuana outlets.  After a few minutes of the local color, I’m good.  Luckily we got a ride back to my car. 

C&O’s is a reliable standby place to meet for lunch in West L.A. 

Christmas Rib Roast, wine, music and movie reviews

Christmas Day 2010 Rib Roast

We have always had rib roast on Christmas Day.  I typically roast it in the oven at 350 F for 18 to 19 minutes per Lb.  Each year I make a little note in my recipe book adjusting the time.  The last couple years I started the oven temperature at 450 F to sear the roast for the 1^st 20 to 30 minutes.  Well, what is it 20 or 30 minutes?  And does this count toward the total cooking time?  And how long should it take to cook overall?  I have notes starting at 20 minutes per Lb.  And I remember this resulting in the roast being too well done.  So, I went to 17 minutes per Lb and it was too rare.  I know.  I just need a meat thermometer, right?  Yeah, right.  Last year I made the note to roast for 19 minutes per Lb. at 350 F with the 1^st 20 – 30 minutes at 450 F. 

One year, I also used the “set it and forget” rotisserie.  The roast turned out perfect, but the house smelled like fat drippings for a week.  So this year I was preparing the roast to cook in the oven per the latest directions above.  The day before Christmas I prepared the rub.  I make my own meat rubs which is a lot like my other recepies, mix up whatever I can find in the cupboard.  My rubs have not had enough salt in them lately.  So for this roast I started with my meat rub that is heavy in brown sugar and added additional season salt.

To make a rub for your rib roast, I recommend ¼ cup of brown sugar and add 1/8 cup each of season salt (I like Tony Chacherie’s Creole Seasoning or Lawry’s season salt – or both), garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder, black pepper and a tablespoon of ground cumin.  This rub is typical of the rubs you see on the food channel shows.  However, I use more brown sugar and chili powder.  I think it makes a better crust.  I also cut a bunch of fresh rosemary and oregano from the yard and chop it up to add to the roast.  And I also added some red pepper flakes for a little extra kick.

On Christmas Eve, I cut the strings off the roast and separated the ribs to add some season rub under them, then retied the ribs to the roast.  I put a generous amount of seasonings all over the roast and put it back in the fridge until Christmas morning.  After my Christmas morning coffee, I start to prepare for the dinner roasting.  I take the 8.25 Lb. roast out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature on the counter.  This is also time to choose and decant the wine to go with dinner. 

While the roast is sitting on the counter, I was still unsure of how to cook it this year.  Betty takes a turkey bag out and says’ “just cook it in a turkey bag”.   The bag has a recipe for roasting a beef rib roast.  And the turkey’s always turn out really good, moist and browned.   I decided to follow the directions with the turkey bag.  I forgot to put the meat thermometer in so I had to rely on the cooking time on the directions.  For an 8 to 10 Lb. rib roast, the cooking time is 2.5 to 2.75 hours.  Our roast was 8.26 Lbs. so 2.5 hours was set on the oven timer. 

I was a little worried because the oven was opened a lot during the 2.5 hours to cook the other stuff.  I was probably one of the best rib roasts we have had.  It was nice and glazed from the rub.  And the end cuts were well done and still moist and very flavorful.  The very middle was a little rare and the rest was a beautiful medium rare. 

Now for the wine

The household rule is that Le Cuvier gets served to guests that are also Le Cuvier members.  Other guests my not appreciate the wine.  Dana is a Le Cuvier member so I decanted a bottle of the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.  I still have some 2001 and 2002 Cab from Le Cuvier, but I anticipate enjoying those remarkable vintages in the future when there are fewer people to share it with.  The wine decanted all morning to allow the bouquet to fully develop.   The Le Cuvier Cabs are great with the full flavor of a rib roast or a good steak.

http://www.lcwine.com/

Movie review : True Grit

Betty and I saw the True Grit remake.  Why does Hollywood try to remake a classic?  Obviously, it’s to make money.  I think people will like it if they have nothing else to compare it to, like the original.  I like Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, but they both acted like retards in this movie.  And that was before Matt Damon almost bit his tongue off.  I’m tied, already, of Jeff Bridges acting like a tired old drunk.  Maybe he plays those rolls so good because all he has to do is act naturally.  Like the old Buck Owens song: “I’m going to be a big star and all I got to do is act naturally” to play a sad broken hearted guy.  I mean, how could anyone expect a better Rooster Cogburn than John Wayne?  And Glenn Campbell had so much more personality than Matt Damon.  And the new Mattie Ross character had none of spunk and personality that the original had.  It was like all the characters were beginning actors reading the lines for the first time.  The bad guys were not as bad either.  Ned Pepper was scary in the original.

The movie will probably get plenty of awards, but my recommendation is if you want to see True Grit, get the original from Net Flicks.  I remember the original True Grit making me laugh out loud and make me cry with emotion.  This new version made me mad that I wasn’t watching the original one.  Sorry.

Music review: Maysa

I love sensual soul music.  And I have discovered Maysa.  I like going to the Barns and Noble to search for music.  I can put on the headphones and scan a CD to get a sample of each song.  I first found Maysa Sweet Classic Soul CD from 2006.  Wishing on a Star is almost as good a Rose Royce.  I most recently found her 2002 CD, “Out of the Blue”.  Both CD’s are great easy to listen to soul music.  I love it with this Sunday morning newspaper.

Restaurant Review:  Crest RV Park, Bakersfield

My Bakersfield readers are probably familiar with the newspaper ads for the Crest RV Park Restaurant.  I thought, who is going to go to a RV Park for lunch or dinner?  Well, I did.  It’s on Wible Road, across from Motor City GM dealers where the old Crest Drive-in Movie Theater was located.  I was getting my car serviced during lunch so I thought I would walk over to the renowned Crest Diner in the RV Park.  It’s a nice restaurant and bar.  Everyone was very attentive and they really wanted me to enjoy my dining experience, which I did.  It was lunch and I was dining alone, so I sat at the bar.  I really just wanted a burger.  They had a special - ½ Lb. burger on grilled wheat bread.  It had avocado and jalapenos on it also.  It was a good sandwich, but it cost $10.95 or so.  It came with fries or a salad and I had the salad.  It was nice and fresh with cucumber and some other vegetables.  I only had water and the bill still came to $12+.  I left $15 to cover lunch and a tip.  The only thing cheaper on the menu for lunch was a regular burger and that was $10.  Whatever happened to the $6 restaurant burger?  I guess they’re at Carls Jr.   Or, am I living in the past?  I only want to spend $5 or $6 for lunch, not $15.  If I wasn’t such a lazy ass, I would have walked to the Ranch Grande Mexican Carniceria and market a few blocks up the street on Wible and had some tacos.  Hey, at least my oil change was free.

I think the Crest RV Diner is a great place to eat if you are RVing there or working at one of the local auto dealerships nearby.  And it was a friendly and clean restaurant and the service was great.  I can give it 3 stars for food, service and atmosphere based on what I ordered.  I just would not say to Betty, “do you want to go out to dinner?  Let’s go the the RV Park”.

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen

December 2010

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen

Anytime I go to Houston, a must visit place to eat is Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.  On a business trip to Houston in December I met my good friend Mike and we had dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant.  It was a 15 minute wait for a table on Monday night.  This leaves a great opportunity to go to the bar and have oysters and beer.  I can confirm that Gulf oysters are back and they are great.  A dozen oysters on the half shell and a 22 oz. draft beer in a frozen schooner is a great meal in itself.  But for Mike and me it makes an appetizer that is part of the pageantry when visiting Pappadeaux.

The oysters are served on a bed of ice with lemon, cocktail sauce, horse radish and a new sauce of vinegar and herbs.  They are fresh, cold, sweet and spiced just right.  When we went to the table, we ordered another round of oysters and another beer.  And they serve a baguette loaf of fresh warm French bread.  Man, we are living large.

The Pappadeaux dinner menu specializes in Cajun seafood, fried seafood and specialty grilled seafood selections.  I always seem to order the same few items.  On this trip I ordered something new to me, the Texas Redfish on the Half Shell.  The half shell refers to the skin side down grilling.  The Redfish is a large fillet almost 2” thick in the middle and is white flesh, sweet, creamy and tender.  I think it’s better than halibut.  It is blackened and served with “jumbo lump crabmeat, asparagus & Creole roasted tomatoes in brown butter with dirty rice”.  It’s even better than it sounds.  The crabmeat, asparagus and tomatoes are sautéed in butter and Creole seasonings and poured over the fish fillet.  The brown butter sauce pools around the fish on the plate which makes the perfect place to dump the dirty rice that is served in a separate bowl.  The rice soaks up the brown butter and it is all so luscious.   The serving size is typical of Texas.  It’s a probably a 12 oz. serving of fish and crab.  The price is $29.65.  I know it sounds high for a seafood dinner, but it’s a real treat that you cannot find just anywhere. 

So, that was Monday night in Houston.  On Wednesday night, 3 of us in our group heard about the great steaks at Taste of Texas.  I’ve heard great reviews of this steak house.  Mike recommended tthat I get the 24 oz. Cowboy cut bone-in Ribeye steak.  He says they have a salad and bread bar that provides an opportunity to load up on blue cheese so you can keep some as a topping for the steak.  This was my plan for dinner.   We were late getting there because I was catching up on my e-mails in my hotel room.  Business in good in Houston even at the top restaurants and the wait was 1 ½ hours for a table.  We did not want to wait that long and there just so happens to be a Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen next door.  The same one I ate at on Monday night.  We walked next door.

This is awesome.  I had my standby favorite, Mississippi Catfish Opelousas.  It’s “Blackened catfish with oysters, shrimp & crabmeat in a lemon garlic butter sauce with dirty rice”.  The catfish is a large fillet and the topping is incredibly delicious.  The price is a mere $24.15.  Did I say we had a dozen oysters also?  Well we did.  It’s so good.  I love Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.  An easy undisputed 4 star favorite. 

http://www.pappadeaux.com/

Art and Beer at Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas, December 3, 2010

Art & Beer

Every once in a while you come across a place that is unique in the world.  Art & Beer is one of those unique places.  About 5 years ago Betty and I went to Cabo San Lucas on vacation.  Our Friend Joe vacationed at the same time in Cabo and we did some tourist things together.  We had a rental car and we wanted to go to Todos Santos one day.   Todos Santos is a charming colonial town about 100 clicks (50 miles) north of Cabo.  It’s known as an art and surfing community and is home of the restored Hotel California. 

Earlier that week while on Medono beach at the famous Office beach cantina, we overheard some people at the next table raving about the best margaritas they ever had.  I’m always on the look out for good food and cocktails recommendations, so I inquired and learned that they were referring to Art and Beer on the way to Todos Santos.  So, we knew what to look for on our day trip the next day when Betty, Joe and I planned to go there.

On the drive back from Todos Santos on that day trip 5 years ago Betty needed to find a bathroom about half way back to Cabo.  No, this was not a case of Montezuma’s revenge.  We just needed a break.  “Hey, there is Art & Beer.  We can stop there.”  The sign was the most impressive part of this road side stand.  They have a small room with art on all the walls and another room, or palapa that is the bar.  The floors are all dirt.  They did have a bathroom and a sign on the way in saying use of the bathroom costs $3.00 or a minimum bar tab of $10.  What a great excuse to buy a margarita. 

The bathroom was an enclosure made of desert wood scraps with a toilet inside over the dirt floor.  Ther was a drum of water next to the toilet and a pail to use to flush it.  The art work was pretty funky and the palapa bar had a great view of the desert and the ocean in the background.  I ordered a margarita that cost $10.  This is a lot for a margarita in my book, but it comes with the use of the “bathroom”.  The Mexican bar maids go to work gathering the fruit from around the bar and squeezing some of everything into the giant glass mug.  I had never seen anything like it.  I could barely carry it back to the bar stool next to the window.  It was really unique and refreshing and was adorned with slices of oranges and a little umbrella.  Our stool at the open “window” had a great view of the ocean and provided a sense of total relaxation, typical of a Mexican palapa bar.  So we enjoyed our drinks overlooking the desert and ocean and decided that Art & Beer is a must stop on our next trip to Todos Santos. 

The next trip to Todos Santos happened to be a year or two later when our friend Joe joined us again at the Sunset Beach resort.  This time at Art & Beer the place had expanded with a covered deck.  This is very Mexican construction made with whatever materials they can find in the desert.  But it was shaded and charming, the perfect environment for a palapa style cantina.  The art was the same as our last visit, just with more dust on it.  I don’t think they had sold any.  And there was a drink and food menu on the patio deck.  We were having our Pina Coladas in full relaxation mode remembering our last discovery visit. There was another couple at the next table that we engaged in conversation.  The guy seemed like he was from New Jersey, like he may have worked for Tony Soprano.  He said he lived in Todos Santos.  I started asking questions which made him very uncomfortable.  Joe and I figured he was hiding from a hit squad or in a witness protection program. 

Now on this trip in December 2010, Betty and I stopped at Art & Beer on our way to Todos Santos about 11AM.  We were the only ones there.  I learned from the lady at the bar that she and her husband are the owners.  They have been there for 13 years and the art work on display is their own.  She speaks good English and said she and her husband are from Northern Baja, Mexicali and Tijuana.  I ordered a beer and Betty ordered a Pina Colada.  And we ordered the seafood campechana tostadas with shrimp, pulpo (octopus) and fish.  It was about $20 on the menu and the Pina Colada was about $14. 

Betty’s Pina Colada comes out in a whole pineapple with fruit and an umbrella attached.  It was very festive.  And we learned over our 2 hour stay that the drink included the entire blender full that she made.  So she refilled the pineapple 5 times.  Enjoying our relaxation and view, the owner came out with an appetizer, apparently part of the cheviche tostada order.  4 large fresh raw clams on a plate, open face with a sauce that tasted like clam juice and worscheshire sauce.  I didn’t even ask Betty if she wanted to eat raw clams, especially in Mexico.  So I slurped and chewed all four.  The presentation was really beautiful.  The plate was sprinkled with bits of herbs and pomegranate seeds, art work in its own right.

Betty’s Pina Colada was filled again and the cheviche tostadas came out on a lovely plate with 3 small tostadas piled high with fresh marinated shrimp, octopus and fish.  Again, the presentation was unbelievable.  Cucumber and tomato slices topped with whole shrimp were added as well.  And a tray of fresh salsas were brought on the side.  And again with the refill on the Pina Colada.  We took some pictures and enjoyed the Chris Boti playing though old stereo speakers.  We moved to the end of the deck to sit in the shade.  This is when she brought out dessert.  A plate of fresh slices of fruits and berries wading in Kahlua and vanilla liqueur. 

We were ready to leave but we were having such a nice time, we went up the spiral stairs to the roof of the art room to check out the view.  We were treated to the display of whales frolicking just off the beach as if they were there just for our pleasure.  Betty and I were the only ones there for our 2 hour stay.  However, we met the other owner as we were leaving.  He’s and old dude with a long grey beard.  And I almost forgot, speaking of leaving, as I paid the owner, she poured two bottles of beere for Betty and I – one for the road- I guess.  This is a must stop on your next trip to Cabo San Lucas.