Catching Up With Oishii Eats At Golden State Café

Damn you, flu, for making me miss Jeni of Oishii Eats' and Dylan of Eat, Drink & Be Merry's wedding celebration! Of all the weekends that my husband's and my immune systems decide to get freaky, it just had to be that weekend. Damn you to pieces.

Having been busy with growing a human being and with a crazy job that had me driving to and from the West 626 and Anaheim every day, it had been almost a year since I last saw the match-made-in-food-blogging-heaven. I was really looking forward to seeing the two of them because they're just such a fun couple who appreciate each other, their family and friends, and their endeavors with a commitment and enthusiasm that is unparalleled. But the other reason I was looking forward to seeing them has a slightly selfish reason to it.

Basically, Jeni and Dylan represent an aspect of my life that I've been itching to reconnect with.

2006 was the year my life took a major beating when my Dad passed away. But it was also a year of great change for me not only in dealing with my own pain of losing my Dad but also in helping my family cope, getting married and starting a new job. I went on quite an emotional and physical roller coaster ride that year, but I managed...largely in part by blogging. Because it gave me an outlet with which to mentally escape--even if for just a few minutes each day--my food blog saved my sanity.

2006 was also the year that was, in my mind, the Golden Age of So-Cal Food Blogging. Not because the food blogs at that time were any better than the ones that have sprung up since then--that's not what I'm saying. It was, rather, a time when there weren't as many of us around, and a time when food blogs were just starting to get noticed by the general public. It was still a novelty for restaurants to see diners pull out their cameras and take photos of what would in a few minutes be digested. I met Jeni and Dylan at a food blogger meetup at Musha Torrance in 2006, coincidentally, on the same night that they met each other. It was awesome to finally have a face to associate with some of their earlier posts that I remember reading: Jeni tag-teaming on a post with her ALL-CAPS slinging mom about the Wat Thai Temple, and Dylan teaching his neighbor how to cook a date-worthy meal. As the months went by and my own posting began to fizzle out and eventually grind to a screeching halt because of increasing work and family commitments, I watched Jeni and Dylan grow, both as a couple and as bloggers. I watched their blogs evolve into the noteworthy sites that they are today with accounts of their tasty travels, beautiful photographs, and educational information that any food lover would appreciate.

They have both told me at one time or another that I was an inspiration to them to start blogging, but now that I am writing again, I am looking to them for mine. We've all come a long way since 2006--alot of the bloggers from that golden year now have husbands, wives, children, more children, new jobs, new homes, you name it. I'm hoping that 2009, despite all the crap that's going on with the economy today, will be a renaissance of all things good from 2006, foodblogosphere-wise: The Rebirth of Slick, The Rebirth of Cool. I, myself, having started to write again, have already seen how it's helped me cope with all the recent changes in my life.

"Hey, let's hook up soon," I wrote in an email to Jeni recently, "It's been too long...I miss you, and I need some inspiration!"

So that's how we ended up at the newly opened Golden State Cafe one late Friday afternoon. The husbands were still at work, but that was fine 'cause that way we got to rant away about all the things that they do and do not do that bug the crap out of us. (Sorry, Isaac and Dylan...we still love you though.)

In a neighborhood that's already an eclectic mix of everything from Jewish delis to art galleries to turntable shops, Golden State Cafe joins the club by showcasing what owners Jason Bernstein and James Starr believe to be some of the best food and drink that our golden state has to offer. In this small but airy industrial space you can get dogs from Let's Be Frank, gelato from Scoops, beer from Craftsman Brewery, and root beer on tap from Virgil's, amongst a slew of other locally sourced goodies.

Jeni and I, feeling particularly snackish, opted for their burger--made with Harris Ranch beef, and topped with farmhouse cheddar, brown sugar bacon and arugula all on a brioche bun--and their Mild Italian sausage--grilled and topped with a choice of two toppings, which for us were the sauerkraut and garlic aioli. The not-too-heavy portions and flavors were fine for two girlfriends who wanted to chill and do lots of catching up. The inclusive sides that we chose--fries with hazelnut romesco, and a lemony Persian cucumber salad--were perfect for picking at while not only talking about the latest goings-on in our lives, but also snapping away with our DSLR's at our plates of food and the restaurant itself. Having a meal with someone else who understands why it's important to take a few seconds to style your food is inspiration at its best.

Had we gone to the Golden State any later that day, catching up and chilling would have been a little more difficult as I hear the place gets packed at night. But this new café has me interested enough to come back and try some of their other offerings like their salami sandwich or grilled vegetable sandwich as well as to explore some of their beer selections.

I'm so glad that I finally got to catch up with the so very kawaii girl that I first saw giving a thumbs up to some taco truck on Mulholland. And I couldn't be happier that you found true love with the guy whose post about a 12:30 am after-work snack at West LA's New Japan first caught my attention. I have a feeling that 2009 is going to be a good year for our So-Cal food blogosphere. Thanks for the inspiration, you two, and all the best in life and love.

(I think this post had more sap than the Sequoia Forest!)

Golden State Cafe
426 N. Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 782-8331
http://thegoldenstatecafe.com

Livin' The Life: Umami Burger, Los Angeles

Ever have those conversations with friends or coworkers about what you would do for a living if you won the lotto? I'm pretty sure you'd be lying if you say you never have.

Like most of us out there, I cannot truthfully say that I would have chosen my current career if I had my choice of any job in the world. Yeah, like I actually like crunching numbers and pulling data out of my ass? Like I like having my eyes glued to a computer monitor for over 8 hours a day? Like I crave going to boring meetings that are sometimes held to discuss other meetings? Yeah right. If I won the lotto, I would not, yes I repeat, WOULD NOT be whoring out fancy- shmancy analyses like I do now. Would not.

So let's say I won the lotto, then. But not a huge mega-ball-or-whatever-they-call-it drawing for like 200 billion dollars. Let's say it was a small-to-medium-ish lotto that would allow me to buy a bigger and nicer home, stash away my kid's college fund, do some traveling and buy some cool stuff but was still not big enough that I had to stop working completely. Big enough, though, that I could stop being a corporate wage slave and so something that I really love. Like...

...professional food blogging!

I've always dreamt of a job that would let me be somewhat free to roam about our city without the rigid schedule and walls of the corporate world. You know all those people who you see just hanging out at a café or out shopping on a weekday afternoon when you're taking a "mental health day" from work? Well I want to be one of those people. Now I don't know exactly what professional food blogging would entail since I only do this for fun right now--heck, I don't even know if such a career exists--but I imagine it to be a job where I could eat at lots of different restaurants, hang out at coffeehouses to write, and not have to be back at my desk by 1:30 everyday.

Now as some of you might already know, I haven't been working recently, so I've been able to live out some aspects of my dream career life, delusional as they may be. For example, I've really, really, really been wanting to try recently-opened and much-talked-about Umami Burger, so I got ready, threw my camera in my bag and made my afternoon all about the restaurant currently at the top of my go-to list.

In a previous life, er, I mean in a life I lived just a month and a half ago, I would have been stuck in a boring meeting in BFE Orange County staring at the clock. But on this particular day at 11:30 in the morning, I was in my car, feeling liberated, driving north on La Brea on my way to what I was hoping would be burger heaven.

Upon pulling up, the observations of this wanna-be-professional-food-blogger went full force. Small parking lot is a pain in the ass. Friendly greeting upon entrance. Small space with a very zen feel. Beautiful mosaic tiled counter. Order at the mosaic-tiled counter and they bring you your food. Lots of natural light. Cute but awkward little alcove toward the back with more tables and counter-like seating. Cake Monkey treats available for purchase at the counter.


I sat at a two-top in the corner for maximum photography lighting and snapped away at the tall bottle of Mexican Coke I was enjoying while waiting for my food. I would take a swig of the cane- sugar-instead-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweetened soda and think about stuff. Nothing in particular, just stuff. And then I'd take another photo and then repeat.

There were two guys sitting behind me dolled up in the typical LA casual-chic uniform of faded t-shirts, designer jeans and flip flops talking about nothing in particular. These guys, I assumed, were part of this out-and-about-on-the-weekday crowd that I am so envious of. Another diner walked in who, after sitting down and pulling a camera out of her purse and exchanging glances with me and my big ass DSLR, revealed herself as a Yelper out on the prowl for good eats. In my make-believe professional foodblogging life, I imagine meeting lots of other food loving people: other bloggers (professional or not!), Chowhounds, Yelpers, and all levels of restaurant staffers from wait staff to chefs to owners. It was totally appropriate, then, that I ended up having lunch with Yelper Chick and talking about all things food.

But what I was really there for, what motivates my inner food blogger in the first place, was the umami. The fifth taste. The taste outside the realm of salty, sweet, bitter and sour that one can only describe as "delicious." From what I could taste, Umami Burger's burgers are aptly named.

I would have ordered one of each burger if I could--Umami Burger's eight current burger varieties like the "Port and Stilton Burger" with blue cheese and port-caramelized onions and the "Triple Pork Burger" with fresh ground pork, chorizo and cob-smoked bacon, aged manchego and pimenton aioli sounded like they'd invoke some serious umamification. But if it was serious umami I was after, then the restaurant's signature burger, the "Umami Burger," would be my guy. The house-ground beef was texturally divine and deep on flavor. Shitake mushrooms, oven-dried tomatoes and caramelized onions added yet another dimension of taste and texture. And the proverbial cherry-on-top was a delicate yet crunchy house-made Parmesan crisp. Also delicious was the gleaming Portuguese bun that tied the whole umamification process together. Hand Cut Fries, boiled and twice-fried, are stacked Jenga-style and ordered separately. They're a little skimpy on quantity but high in quality, and definitely do not overshadow the star of the show.

As I was focusing in on my lunch, owner Adam Fleischman approached our table and told me he charges $5 a photo. Uh, ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? Who dares talk to a professional food blogger that way? But he was just kidding of course. And he was also so gracious that Yelper Chick and I were showing such an interest in his restaurant that he brought us a sampling of his Roasted Garlic Potato Salad made with Russian Blue and fingerling potatoes. I much preferred the fries as a side, but it was an extremely nice gesture from a guy who obviously knows good food and takes such great pride in what he does. Schmoozin' with restauranteurs--that's what I'm talking about. This professional food blogging gig is something that I could really get in to.

Of course when I do end up getting a job--meaning a regular, corporate job--the coach will revert to a pumpkin and the horses will revert to mice. Unless I play hooky or am on vacation, leisurely weekday lunches amongst LA's daytime crowd will be almost impossible. My dreams of being a professional food blogger will have been a figment of my imagination, and I'll be that number-slinging, data-whoring cubicle dweller once again 'cause unfortunately, that's what pays the bills and can afford me more trips to Umami Burger. Until I win the lotto that is.

Umami Burger
850 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 931-3000
www.umamiburger.com



These bloggers also got their umami on recently: A Hamburger Today, The Foodinista, Eating LA, Alli 411, LA Times' Daily Dish

"B" is for Burgers, Bar Food, Beer, and Boredom: The Yard House, Long Beach

"What are you doing?" I asked my fellow unemployed friend and ranter R on the phone.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Wanna have lunch?"

"Sure!"

If you've ever been unemployed, the drill is probably all too familiar. The first week or so are spent clearing your head of sadness or anger or whatever emotions your former employer's actions hath wrought upon you. The second week is spent getting down to business on updating the resume you hadn't updated since you started the job you just got fired from, applying to every job that's out there regardless of whether or not you are qualified, and writing cheesy cover letters that are borderline brown-nosing. The third week on out, all the job postings start to look the same. Why? Because they are the same. OK, maybe one or two new ones show up each day, but those resumes and cover letters are surely not flying out at the same speed they did the week prior. More importantly, no one is calling.

And so begins the boredom.

I've already cleaned my house, done all my laundry, compiled all my tax return paperwork, organized my desk. All that was left to do was take advantage of the weekday afternoons that had previously been spent in an office cubicle, which is pretty much how R and I ended up at The Yard House in Long Beach one Thursday afternoon.

Located in a tourist-trappy part of Long Beach near the Queen Mary and the Long Beach Aquarium, it's a surefire bet for mainstream-and-mediocrity as far as food is concerned. Something which on this particular day, however, was totally fine with me. There we were, my ex co-worker and I, relaxing on a lovely Thursday afternoon on the restaurant's outdoor patio overlooking the Long Beach marina, just ranting away--about the job market and the economy, about people back at the office, about getting old, about his dating life--something that any of us at that office only wished we could have done on a weekday afternoon. My BBQ Bacon and Cheese Burger was just fine, as was my friend's Classic Cheese Burger and our sides of fries, cut not-quite-as-thin-as-shoestring style and fried to a nice golden crisp. And with about 250 beers on tap, we just couldn't go wrong.

Cheers to unemployment! (While our severance is still in effect, anyways)

The Yard House
401 Shoreline Village Drive
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 628-0455
www.yardhouse.com