Pop Went The Monkey: 2912 Rowena Pop Up Shop Starring Cake Monkey, et. al., Silverlake

If I fall off the weight-management bandwagon, surely the Cake Monkey weekend pop-up shop on Rowena Avenue would have had something to do with it. Out of the three weekends that they were in operation, I went twice. How's that for self-control?

I'm a sucker for Cake Monkey and all its nostalgic-treats-reminiscent goodies, but special trips to Silverlake Wine, Umami Burger and even Intelligentsia Coffee on busy Sunset Blvd. just to get my fix were a tad too impractical for this toddler-in-tow mommy. And special order just doesn't cut it when a sweets craving suddenly strikes on a lazy weekend day. Having been able to take my little ankle-biter with me into a cute little cottage with a cool neighborhood vibe on the weekends, however, was much more my cup of tea. Which was why I was ever so grateful that Cake Monkey and a handful of local artists and artisans collaborated in a three-weekend pop up sale. Unfortunately, the pop up ended last weekend to my surprise so um, yeah, after looking at the following photos of all the ridiculously delicious stuff I bought there, you won't be able to go until they decide to pop up again. Sucks to be you? Not quite. So maybe you won't be able to purchase everything under one picket-fence-surrounded-roof, but fortunately most of the goodies I consumed are available for purchase via other avenues. Just refer to the contact info and links at the end of this post!

Anyways, check out some of the diet-destroyers that I picked up:

My first foil wrapped treats as a kid were the Hostess Ding Dong and Ho-Ho. My kid's first foil wrapped treats were Cake Monkey Black and White Cakewiches filled with vanilla cream and Valrhona crunchy pearls and coated in bittersweet chocolate, Raspberry Red Velvet Cakewiches filled with raspberry swirled vanilla frosting and encased in the same yummy dark chocolate shell as its sister cakewich, and Yo-Ho's--chocolate cake rolled up with a swirl of vanilla cream. He only got a bite or two of each, but I'm kind of afraid I'm setting a precedent for spoiling the kid with such high quality sweets at such a young age. I mean, I was lucky to even get a Ding Dong when I was young. I'm telling you, these kids nowadays...

My Inside Out S'More from Cake Monkey got a little squished on the way home, but who cares? I think I almost ate the fun little cookie creation--homemade graham cracker and chocolate ganache cookie topped with a mound of toasted marshmallow--in one bite.


I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of brittle because it always seemed like I was about to break my teeth eating overly sweetened glass remnants. Until I tried that of Morning Glory Confections, that is. Fellow food blogging and tweeting mommy Reservation For Three first alerted me to her husband Max's artisan brittle creations which are handmade in small batches using high quality natural ingredients. The unique flavor combinations such as Thai Curry & Peanut, Chai Tea & Cashew and New Mexico Chili & Pumpkin Seed are a perfect combination of savory and sweet, and the textures have the right amount of crunch--not so hard that you feel like you're paying for your dentist's kids to go to college.

At the pop up sale, I purchased a box of Morning Glory Confections' Chocolate Enrobed Brittles--Darkened Milk Chocolate-, 55% semisweet chocolate- and 70% bittersweet chocolate-covered versions of their brittle varieties. Each tile was small--less than a square inch--but full of delicious flavor and texture.

My second trip to the pop up was inspired by ResForThree's tweet a couple weeks ago raving about some of the Bacon Fat, Smoked Paprika and Fleur De Sel Caramels that Max had whipped up for that weekend's pop up. Perfectly chewy pig candy with a hint of spice...they were definitely well worth the drive from the San Gabriel Valley to Silverlake.

Who eats dessert before eating lunch? Well me, I guess. I ended my sweets binge on my second visit to the pop up with a Lasagna Cupcake made by catering company and pop-up vendor HeirloomLA. I thought the idea was a little hokey at first, but I soon pledged allegiance to the hearty layers of al dente pasta and bolognese ragu that I could eat with my hands. Tasty and convenient...genius!

Hopefully, Cake Monkey and friends will decide to pop up again in the same or similar location--I loved being able to quickly snag up so many goodies in one convenient kid-friendly place that wasn't too far of a drive for me. Until then, here's how you can get your cake, brittle and lasagna cupcake groove on:

Cake Monkey
877-640-CAKE
info@cakemonkey.com
www.cakemonkey.com
Available by special order or at select food-centric locations. See website for specifics.

Morning Glory Confections
(323) 662-2963
info@morninggloryconfections.com
www.morninggloryconfections.com
http://twitter.com/MGbrittle
Available for purchase online or at select food-centric locations. See website for specifics.

Heirloom LA
(323) 872-2904
info@heirloomLA.com
www.heirloomLA.com
http://twitter.com/heirloomLA

Popping My Nouveau Food Truck Cherry With The Nom Nom Truck

It's not because I'm a prude or anything like that.

I eat tamales sold out of some random lady's trunk at the supermarket parking lot. I eat animal feet and intestines and stomach linings.

So no, I have not waited this long to eat at a nouveau food truck because the idea of eating food made in a truck scared me. It is definitely not that.

I guess I just never thought it was a big deal.

Whereas all the other kids are doing it like it's going out of style, I was never in any kind of rush. I decided to wait until the time was right.

"But DG, evvvvvvveryone is doing it."

If everyone were jumping off a bridge, would I do the same? Um, no. If everyone had to follow someone on Twitter just to eat, would I do the same? No. If everyone waited in line for what seemed like an eternity, would I do the same? No, no, no.

No offense to food truck enthusiasts, but this whole gourmet food truck fad is just not my thing. I do not like the idea of having to track down my food only to find out the truck was forced to move. I do not like the idea of having to wait in a line of 35 hipster foodies who somehow found out the truck's new location before I did. Believe it or not, I have better things to do.

Unless of course, the truck was already there waiting for me.

Which is exactly why I gave it up for the Nom Nom Truck.

He just happened to be catering a gallery event we attended a few weeks ago. We got there and I spotted him from a distance looking all buff decked out in green and yellow hanging out by the sidewalk on South Pasadena's Mission Street. I made the first move. But being my first time, I was a little on the wishy washy side as I pondered everything this hunk of a Vietnamese fusion food truck had to offer.

Did I want a lemongrass chicken taco topped with Vietnamese vegetable accoutrements? Or perhaps a grilled pork taco or tofu taco?

Or would I find pleasure in the truck's banh mi?

"Screw it," I said. It was free, so I had it all.

Foreplay came in the form of canned carbonated beverages and kawaii Asian snacks like Hello Panda cookies, rice crackers and Pocky. Which were also free for the taking that evening. Needless to say, alot of foreplay was had.

Doing the deed with the truck's Grilled Pork Banh Mi wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, especially if 5 bucks is what they charge normally--an astronomical price considering the same can be had at a traditional banh mi shop for half the price. I'll give them credit for very tasty meat--juicy pork with the perfect amount of char--but other than that, the baguette was on the dry side and didn't have as much mayo/butter/soy sauce or whatever *ahem* lube combo as it should have had.

The tacos, however, did not fail to please the palate and were quite delicious. Warm, fluffy corn tortillas really showed off the truck's nicely done proteins. The lemongrass chicken, grilled pork and tofu were all tender and generous with great flavor. Pickled daikon, carrots and cucumber added a perfect crunchy texture and helped to bring out the flavor of those juicy, charred proteins.

So what did I think about deflowering my nouveau food truck virginity with the Nom Nom Truck? Overall, I'm glad I did it, and there were definitely as many high points as there were low points. Though my first time may be a little skewed from being too easy--not having to go on the prowl for it, not having to wait a long time, and not having to pay--the experience itself was enough to make me curious about all the fun I could have with all the other trucks out there. But I'm not planning on becoming a total food truck whore anytime in the near future; I'm just not that into chasing them down and waiting around just to get a little nouveau food truck somethin' somethin.' So I think I'll be picky about hooking up...I'll hold my own and maybe play hard to get a little bit. I may have popped that gourmet food truck cherry a little prematurely, but I still want to be in charge of my nouveau food truck consuming body.

The Nom Nom Truck
http://nomnomtruck.com
Follow the @nomnomtruck on Twitter

Cheaters are Losers: A Spicy, Oily Indulgence at Shufeng Garden, Rowland Heights

I've been good.

I've pretty much kept my daily caloric intake to about 1400 a day.

I've been working out 5 days a week, some days at a pretty high intensity.

And I've lost 15 pounds since I've started this Biggest Loser challenge about 6 weeks ago. Not too shabby, eh?

But that 15 pounds lost hasn't all been a result of me being good. It is also, in my opinion, a result of me being very, very bad.

No matter how many tasty and healthy recipes I have up my sleeve, day after day of low calorie, low fat, low sodium, low carb, mayo-less, bacon-less, whole grain, high-fiber, sugar-free, dressing-on-the-side bullshit makes me want to eat the couch. So if I didn't allow myself to cheat on my diet once a week, I would literally consume upholstery. Topped with cheese and butter, of course.

One of my most recent cheat meals involved an oil-laden, fried, fatty, carbo-loaded feast at Shufeng Garden. And yes, this Rowland Heights mini-mall Sichuan did indeed do its job of fending off those late night upholstery cravings as well as punishing this unfaithful dieter with red-hot, spicy pain that hurt so much I liked it.

I'd remembered photos of an oil-slathered fatty pork dish on some local blogs and knew right away that this was exactly what I needed. Thanks to a Mandarin Chinese speaking coworker, printouts of photos of the dish from local blogs' jaunts to the restaurant's second location in San Gabriel, as well as an email from SinoSoul with the names of recommended dishes in Chinese, my non-Mandarin speaking, non-Chinese reading, Chinese self was able to get some Pork Butt in Garlic Mud into my now-smaller belly.

The cool, thin slices of half meat/half fat stripes bathed in spicy chili oil definitely satisfied my fat-covered-in-more-fat craving. I'd imagined them to be a little thicker and served warmer, but the dish was good nonetheless.

The large pot of Water Boiled Fish we ordered looked like something out a movie: a virtual sea of orangey-red angry with red pepper flakes, like a vast body of fluid over which you'd be rowing a decrepid boat in hell. The cauldron of white fish fillets and assorted vegetables soaked in a spicy red bath wasn't as spicy as I thought it was going to be, which is either good or bad depending on your tolerance for spice. I personally would have liked it to be spicier and perhaps a little more tangy, but it was still a nice accompaniment for a hot bowl of steamed rice.

Zhong's Dumplings were al dente pillows of pork-filled goodness served with a healthy dose of (you guessed it) chili oil. A sprinkling of sesame seeds added a nutty bite to these smoky and spicy little pouches.

It was perhaps the restaurant's Dan Dan Mian that put Shufeng Garden on LA's foodie map to begin with--what with having made Jonathan Gold's Best Dishes of 2009 list--and for good reason. It looks like a none-too-exciting small bowl of noodles topped with ground pork and spinach upon first glance, but after mixing the al dente noodles up with all that's in that bowl and taking a slurp, it's a multi-dimensional flavor experience that will both enlighten and numb your tastebuds. It's spicy, acidic, herbal and smoky all at the same time, with flavors that work together but that are distinguishable separately as well.

A cheat day can't be called a cheat day without something fried, so infidelity in the form of the restaurant's Shufeng Spicy Chicken and Intestines in Chili & Wild Pepper were pure guilty, spicy perfection. Fried meat morsels are fun, but not as fun as when they're fried with as much chilis and pepper as there were pieces of meat. I especially liked the fried intestine which were fried to a beautiful golden crisp on the outside which gave way to a slightly bouncy funkiness on the inside--a funkiness that only offal enthusiasts can appreciate.


After having inhaled three bowls of hot, steamy rice and five tongue-tingly good dishes with enough chili oil to grease up my newly toned biceps, I was more than ready to go back to 400 calorie a meal "budget." Until the next cheat day, that is. Sometimes you just have to be bad to be good.

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 839-7589

Getting Along At The Gorbals, Downtown LA

In an age where meeting new people is as easy as walking your dog, feeding your baby at the Nordstrom Women's Lounge, or starting a food blog, the number of friends, acquaintances, and internet chat buddies you have in your life suddenly becomes a little overwhelming. And to be perfectly honest, as much as I usually like the people I've met in my lifetime, I tend to like some more than others.

I recently thought long and hard about what the common thread is amongst the people who I get along with the best. And that common thread is simply...

...that the people I tend to get along with the best are not uptight.

People who are open minded, people who love to laugh and who can laugh about others as well as themselves--those are my peeps.

So it was completely appropriate that I met up with WeezerMonkey, yutjangsah, and The Delicious Life--a few of LA's most un-uptight local food bloggers--at Ilan Hall's most un-uptight new Downtown Los Angeles restaurant, The Gorbals.

One might have expected the atmosphere and surrounding environments of a Top Chef Season 2 winner's restaurant to lean somewhat on the swankier, more upscale side, but The Gorbals is quite the contrary. I had to Austin Powers my way out of the bordering-on-sketchy underground parking garage when its valet attendants were too busy trying to cram a car inside a freight elevator to acknowledge me. I finally made may way to the restaurant, located in the dingy lobby of the Alexandra Hotel, a historic hotel-turned-affordable housing complex. The stark rectangular space is, with its few wood and steel accents, minimalist-cool on one hand, and with its rows of wooden tables, a bit reminiscent of a dining hall on the other.

And if the setting wasn't enough to get that stick out of your ass, the food at The Gorbals just might be that extra pull you need. Named after a neighborhood in Glasgow, Scotland were Hall's father grew up, The Gorbals' menu draws inspiration from that neighborhood's post-war culture, where poor immigrants of varying ethnicities lived and ate. Hall created his menu, therefore, to know no boundaries, ethnicities or labels: it's "a spot for new and diverse ideas" and "tasty, oddball food that is there for anyone who is willing to eat something that does not fall into a category."

The restaurant's bacon-wrapped matzo balls with horseradish mayonnaise are probably the best example of Chef Hall's playful tribute to both the Kosher and the non-Kosher. This edible oxymoron was, from what I've heard, something the chef originally created as a joke for a non-Kosher Jewish friend's birthday party. I liked this dish, not only because I am usually a fan of bacon-wrapped anything, but mainly because of the sense of humor behind its concept. Hey, what can I say? I'm a rebel by old school Chinese standards myself.

Manischewetz-braised pork belly with clapshot and apples would also normally be a big no-no in Kosher circles, but leave it to Chef Hall to combine the two into a creation where pork and the Jewish faith can hold hands and coexist in peace. Not the best pork belly dish I've had around town (hint: Animal) but this version certainly works. And the Manischewetz reduction was quite tasty.

Butternut squash latkes with chestnut cream were a welcome alternative to traditional potato latkes, the light-as-a-feather chestnut cream being the star of the show here. Yutjangsah liked them so much that she'd eat Ding Dongs stuffed with this. We also told the chef that we really liked his cream and he told us it was really easy to make. Wait, that didn't come out right, did it?

Octopus with gizzards and lemon is a dish that would normally be right up my alley--I love chewy-tasties! Yutjangsah and The Delicious had already ordered this prior to my and WeezerMonkey's arrival and unfortunately, it had gotten a little cold and glazed over by the time I sampled. I'd totally love to try it fresh out of the kitchen next time.

Sweet oxtail buns with turnip pickles were this particular restaurant's version of everyone's obligatory slider. These were a little reminiscent of Manwich served on King's Hawaiian Rolls, which would normally be totally fine if they weren't one of the priciest options on that night's menu at $15.

Worcestershire sauce-spiked Welsh rarebit with fried egg was something I could probably eat for breakfast everyday if I wasn't fearful of food coma, clogged arteries and weighing 300 pounds.

Roasted marrow with king oyster mushrooms and walnuts was a tasty treat; I loved the acidic bite of the mushrooms against the velvety richness of the marrow. There was also bread to sop everything up. Genius.


Some of the wacky topics of conversation I had with the girls up to this point included white meat vs. dark meat chicken and earwax. I won't go into details but it was damn funny.

See, even Chef Hall is getting in on the humor. Here he is about to serve us our Gribenes sandwich:

Yes, the Gribenes sandwich. Chicken skin, lettuce (well, in this case arugula) and tomato nestled between rye bread and you've got yourself a "GLT." Need I say more?

I have to admit that it wasn't love at first bite with the Gribenes; I was a little concerned about the binding ability of the cold rye against the tower of ingredients, but a couple more bites and I was hooked. Chicken skin crack.

Apparently, the gribenes wasn't the only crack in the Gorbals that evening...

I really wanted to like our dessert more since I've heard good things, but I just wasn't thrilled with our sticky toffee pudding, nutella-buttermilk ice cream with maldon salt. Perhaps it was an off night, but whatever the case, our toffee pudding was dry and the ice cream lacked a little j'ne sais quoi, which is just fancy talk for a little somethin' somethin'. I'd love to give it another shot however.

We ran into H.C. of LA and OC Foodventures and mooched off his Israeli couscous, pumpkin ice cream and bacon brittle dessert, which to me was like a cross between oatmeal and tapioca pudding. Just OK, but I thought the bacon brittle was really cool.

Being relatively new, I think The Gorbals has a little bit to go in finding its groove, but nevertheless, I had quite the enjoyable dining experience. From the wacky, sacriligious, but tasty-for-the-most-part food to Chef Hall's down-to-earth personality to planning a boba/legal/mani-pedi/dry cleaning truck with some awesome bloggers, it was all good. If you're one of those stuffy, upturned-nose kind of people, though, this isn't the place for you.


The Gorbals
501 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 488-3408
www.thegorbalsla.com

DG's Recycle & Reuse Program: Steamed Roast Pork With Shrimp Paste

In Cantonese, we use the word hahk-hei to describe when someone is being polite. But it's not the common-courtesy-kind-of-polite; rather, it's the I-need-to-be-polite-to-save-face-kind-of-polite.

Ever been out to eat with a bunch of Chinese people and experience a literal fight over the check?

"Mm-ho hahk hei, lar!" we'll say to each other as we're literally lunging over the table trying to grab the check from one another's hands. It's our way of saying, "Hey, don't be so polite, yo. Let me pay!" To which the response is always a never ending back and forth tirade of "No, no, no, let me pay!"

OK yes, we do like to be generous to our friends and loved ones. But the thing is that we don't put up a fight for that reason alone; we put up a fight because we don't want to look like we didn't. It's all about saving face.

The same situation applies to leftover food at said gatherings. No one wants to look like the greedy one who snatched all that food for themselves. "Mm-ho hahk hei, lar...you take it!"

Except when it comes to leftovers, I have no qualms about taking the shit.

Because the reality of it is, I am poor. I got a mortgage and bills to pay and a family to feed and I need anything I can get after either a) paying for your dinner to save face or b) giving away a benjamin or two inside a red envelope to a newly married couple or new baby or whatever.

Now if you're really, really poor, or really, really cheap, or perhaps a combination of both, harm ha jzing jee yook--steamed roast pork with shrimp paste--is the perfect dish for you. It reuses every bit of your leftovers, so it costs next to nothing to make, and a little goes a long, long way.

First thing you do is make sure you are not hahk hei--if there is leftover roast pork at whatever Chinese party/dinner you're attending, take it. If there are no Chinese dinner leftovers involved, that's OK. Drive yourself to the nearest Chinese BBQ shop like Sam Woo BBQ and buy yourself a pound of roast pork for under 10 bucks.

Next, add a little bit of shaoxing cooking wine, a swig of vegetable oil, a dusting of cornstarch, a dollop of shrimp paste (like the one pictured below which you can find at Asian grocery stores) and a teeny bit of water to the pork and mix it all up.

Put it in a shallow dish and steam for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with lots of hot steamed rice.

The result is juicy morsels of pork that have been both roasted and steamed and that have taken on this savory, pungent, funky-in-a-good-way flavor. My favorite part is that once-crispy pig skin that's now taken on a chewy texture after having been steamed but still retains a hint of that smoky flavor it got by roasting.

Like I said earlier, a little really goes a long way. All you need are a few pieces of the pork and maybe some of the juices to liven up an entire bowl of rice. In fact, if you use too much, your meal often becomes too salty. Rationed properly, this dish could potentially last you several days, partially offsetting the original cost of your dinner bill or gifts.

Welcome Back, Mofongos: The Grand Reopening of LA's Only Puerto Rican Restaurant

Imagine the delight of finally eating at a Puerto Rican restaurant in Los Angeles County.

But imagine the disappointment of finding out that the first time may have been the last, at least for a long while.

When Mofongos closed about three months ago, I thought for sure that Los Angeles just wasn't meant to have a Puerto Rican restaurant. Ever. Fortunately, Chef/Owner AC knew that his customers weren't going to take no for an answer and kept us updated via a Facebook fan page. "Mofongos will be back..." he wrote, asking his 600+ fans for prayers over the span of the last couple of months as he hunted down a new location for his restaurant. Then one day in October I read the following post: "Wild change of fate! We'll be back at the old cafe but this time it's gonna say Mofongos en frente!" Wow, who would've thought...Facebook can be useful!

AC's mami greeted us with a loud and warm "¡Bienvenidos!" as we walked into the former La Espiga Cafe space which had since been revamped into a space that's much more characteristic of Boricua pride. The walls had been repainted a vibrant peach color that's reminiscent of the bright sherbety pastels literally seen all over La Isla Del Encanto itself. More specifically, she described it as the color of quenepas, a lychee-like fruit with peach-colored flesh that's common in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican mementos such as a pilón de madera, the wooden mortar and pestle traditionally used to make mofongo, and an old box of dominoes bearing the Puerto Rican flag are proudly showcased in a glass case in the corner. A menuboard carrying, chefs whites wearing ceramic pig sits atop the counter and is perhaps a bit cliché but its message "Mi Casa Es Su Casa" says everything about the homey, friendly vibe of this newly reopened restaurant.

The food, more importantly, was just as delicious as before. Mofongo con carne guisada satisfied my craving for garlicky, chicharrony (is that even a word?) goodness.

Pollo guisado was a hearty stew of chicken and sofrito was good by itself, but was even better with a side of arroz con habichuelas (rice with stewed pink beans) and tostones (fried green plantains) that I personally used to sop up extra sauce on my plate.

But the star of our meal was the restaurant's pernil, roasted pork shoulder, whose low-and-slow-cooked fork tender meat and perfectly browned garlicky crust were gobbled up before anyone could say "más."

A good sized hunk of budin (Puerto Rican bread pudding), subtley sweetened with evaporated milk and cinnamon and dotted with raisins, ended our meal.

Continuous streams of customers came through Mofongos during our lunch on the restaurant's grand reopening day. It was a sign that all things Puerto Rican--whether it be the food, the smiles, the music, the atmosphere, or anything else one may have at one point experienced on La Isla Del Encanto--were missed in LA, even if only for three months. Welcome back, Mofongos!


Mofongos
5757 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
(818) 754-1051
www.mofongosrestaurant.com
Now open from 10am-10pm daily!



**Please be sure to read my first post about Mofongos when it was still operating out of La Espiga Cafe!**