Gourmet tacos in Atwater: Gentrification complete

As if Canele and 55 Degrees wine weren't enough proof, the new taco stand coming to Brand Blvd. isn't just any taco stand -- it's Hugo's Tacos, reports Franklin Ave. We were going to take a picture on our way home from Palate last night, but Mike saved us the trouble. Hugo's Tacos is an offshoot of Hugo's Restaurant, the popular brunch spot. Hugo's Taco's already has one location in Studio City with honey chipotle salsa, soyrizo burritos, organic rice pudding and such. Whatever will the more homespun Tacos Villa Corona think?

Palate tickles Glendale's tastebuds

It's usually a good idea to give restaurants several weeks to shake out, but I had a feeling Palate Food + Wine was already firing on most of its cylinders just a week in, so we stopped by Tuesday evening. With no reservation, we squeezed in between two couples, and one of the gentlemen next to us suggested that the way to go was to have Steve Goldun, the wine director, suggest wine pairings for the small plates in small 2.5 ounce pours. Over the course of the meal we were helped by Steve, who also pours two wines he makes himself, handsome French server Alexandre, who is conversant in wine, and another, less-experienced server who is still working on his cheese knowledge, but everyone was friendly and helpful. It was a little tricky getting the plates and the pours coordinated, so make sure to specify if you want them in courses or all at once. The menu is short but attractive, and Palate is quite serious about the ingredients and preparations. There's a "porkfolio" as a starter with prosciutto, mortadella and lardo, as well as a few potted spreads for bread. The butter served with sliced radishes and fleur de sel is made in-house (pictured above left), as is the vinegar we spied fermenting in a storeroom. We started with the fried squash blossoms (right), a nice-sized pile in a light tomato sauce. Then we tried the scallops with corn pudding and chanterelles (below left), which managed to be crispy, tender, salty and sweet all at once. I persuaded Kathy to try the pork belly, a luscious, modest slab that didn't make you feel too guilty about devouring the crispy skin, melting fat and rich bacony meat. A salad of chioggia beets, apples and fennel alongside was a good tart complement to the rich pork. By then we were starting to make friends with everyone around us, from Christine Splichal and her two sons to Fred Eric. After a lovely cheese plate, chef Octavio Becerra offered to show us what's going on in back of the restaurant. (At this point no one knew we were writers, they're just all very excited to show off all the parts of the place). Octavio (shown in the cheese room, below) pointed out the bookshelves waiting for the gastronomic library, the long steel tables for impromptu wine tastings (an abbreviated menu will be available in back in the tasting room), the super-chilled walk-in cheese room where tastings will also be held, the loading dock patio, and the wine store space. It will all be ready in a week or two, he promises. He's also got ambitious plans for ordering whole animals and doing caja china roasts, having small private lunches in back and plenty more. I don't know if the residents of Glendale will be able to tear themselves away from the new Cheesecake Factory to check out Palate, but for sure people from nearby Silver Lake and Eagle Rock and other areas are going to be all over it.
Palate Food + Wine
933 S. Brand Blvd.
Glendale
818-662-9463

Japanese trends invading L.A.? Who wants to be a yurista?

Yurista sounds like something you might catch if you ate the wrong thing in Uruguay, but apparently Yuri Japanese Cafe is looking for a few good Yuristas to fill Yuri rolls at a new fast food Japanese concept near Melrose and La Brea.

And if there weren't already more Beard Papas than we really need, EaterLA reports on Fulfilled, a new Japanese filled pastry shop in Beverly Hills. I've been eating those imagawayaki red bean pastries since I was a kid, but I can't imagine them being the next big thing. Perhaps Fulfilled will mainly cater to the Japanese shoppers on Rodeo Drive.

Eating L.A. nominated for best individual blog

I'm happy to say that for the second year, Eating L.A. has been nominated by the L.A. Press Club for Best Individual Blog. (It won last year!) Congrats also to Jonathan Gold who was nominated for criticism, Ted Johnson from Variety among those for best news organization website, the staff of Laist, Amy Alkon, Luke Thompson, and everyone else who was nominated. (Entries are voted on by a press club outside of California.)

Lot 1 "closed for upgrades"

I was going to give Lot 1 some time to get it together before I tried it, because early reviews have varied widely -- several reviewers liked the food but thought the space could be a lot more pleasant. And even though I don't always drink with dinner, not even being able to bring a bottle of wine is a little frustrating. Saturday night I noticed it was dark at prime dinner hour, and the phone message says the restaurant closed for upgrades over the weekend and expects to open on Tuesday, May 20. Just to be safe, call ahead (213-481-8400) if you're ready to try chef Josef Centeno's new Sunset Blvd. venture.
Lot 1 -- the good and the bad (Chowhound)
Lot 1 -- mostly just the bad (Chowhound)
Lot 1 -- awesome, but pricey (Yelp)

How to judge a cupcake

Vanilla's lovely display
First of all, if you're asked to judge a cupcake competition, you might want to ask how many cupcakes you'll be trying. Even when the judges at the Cupcake Invitational were told "about 30," we didn't have a sense of what that would entail until we were completely stuffed and told we were only half done with the blind tasting.
Second, consider what you might like to drink with cupcakes and take some with you just in case. Maybe coffee, or milk? Or iced tea? In any case, realize that wine and cupcakes when it's 100 degrees at 1 in the afternoon might be just a bit much. root beer cupcakes on the right were a little strange

KTLA's Sam Rubin asked what we thought the criteria should be. "Frosting." "Cake - dry or moist?" "Ratio of frosting to cake!," the judges agreed.
While some of the usual suspects (Joan's on Third, Auntie Em's, Dots) were not participating, 10 of us bloggers and foodwriters (and Sam) got a chance to try cupcakes from some lesser-known places. My favorite cupcake -- and I'm usually not really a big chocolate fan -- was the Mandarin orange chocolate cupcake from Essential Chocolate Desserts in Culver City, which reminded me of Baskin Robbins Mandarin orange chocolate sherbet. My second favorite was the Key Lime from Vanilla Bakeshop, and I think my third favorite, raspberry lemon curd, was also from Vanilla. Theirs were among the prettiest, too. maple cupcakes
The event was put on by Drink.Eat.Play, which is affiliated with Cozmo Deck, and puts on food events around the country. I'll post the winners later today.
Here's a another report from Caroline on Crack, featuring the strange pistachio/pineapple cupcakes.
And here's one from Lesley Bargar's new food blog for Los Angeles Magazine.

El Caserio: a trip to Ecuador via Italy

El Caserio: Eat at the sign of the dwarf

Silver Lake seems to specialize in restaurants with no signage, like Pho Cafe and Cliff's Edge, or restaurants that can be challenging to find the first time. The new upscale version of longtime Ecuadorian/Italian restaurant El Caserio is also tricky to find, even if you know that it's located in the former insurance company office next to the Hollywood freeway's Silver Lake Blvd. on-ramp. Just turn right on London -- when you see the lawn gnome holding an "Open" sign, open the ornately-carved heavy wooden door, and you're there. The office building has been transformed into a pleasant space with a large glassed-in patio.
One of just a handful of Ecuadorian restaurants in all of Los Angeles, El Caserio's specialties are similar to some Peruvian dishes, but with a twist that often involves peanut sauce. The Ecuadorian dishes don't do a fusion thing with the Italian food -- there's a separate pasta section of the menu, and desserts like cannoli and tiramisu. Despite the blown glass chandeliers and full cocktail menu, Ecuadorian cooking is still homey and rustic no matter how you tart it up.
We started with super-crispy fresh empanadas, stuffed with chicken, beef and cheese, perfect with some spicy aji sauce. Other Ecuadorian starters include humitas (corn and cheese tamales) shrimp ceviche, and a soup called locro de papas, with potatoes, feta cheese and avocado. As in Peruvian cuisine, potatoes are ubiquitous -- if you haven't had a saltado before, it's an Asian-influenced stir fry of shrimp or beef with a soy-based sauce, sauteed with onions, tomatoes and French fries. Strangely enough, it works, although with a scoop of buttery rice on the side, it might approach starch overload. Saltados are also available with tallarines, akin to Italian tagliatelle noodles, instead of fries.
For a real Ecuadorian experience, try the Seco de chivo. The boneless goat isn't at all gamey, more like a tender pork dish, and is served in a beer-laced red sauce that's a bit too salty, but about right after it's mixed with the rice on the side. Llapingachos con fritada are one of the more unusual Ecuadorian dishes: potato patties are served with pork ribs, garlic and onions, topped with an egg over easy, topped with peanut sauce. There's a full cocktail menu mojitos, caipirinhas and the like; fruit juices and South American sodas.
El Caserio is a fun change of pace, but it comes at a price comparable to mid-range Italian restaurants in the area. Pastas are $12-16 and main courses $14-28, so don't expect a funky "ethnic" experience -- this is Ecuador/Italy deluxe.
El Caserio, 401 Silver Lake Blvd., 213-273-8945

Flor Morena becomes Michelangelo

The Silver Lake round of musical chairs continues...Chowhound poster Scurvy confirms the last and apparently most reliable Flor Morena rumor. Michelangelo, which has been looking for a nearby spot since they announced they would be closing at the end of May since their landlord terminated their lease (EatingLA 3/14), has settled on the Flor Morena space. Update: I spoke with the owners, who tell me they hope to get the new space fixed up as soon as possible to keep up the continuity for their customers. They're hoping to eventually acquire the full liquor license that was originally approved for the space.
Lot 1 gets a thumbs up
Of course, Josef Centeno, who just two months ago was rumored to be taking the Michelangelo space, has quickly opened Lot 1 in Echo Park. Clare, who has been keeping tabs on the space, posted a favorable early review of Lot 1 on Rainy Days and Sundays.

Palate looks ready to roll; Newsflash: Cheesecake Factory crowded

Hordes of hungry mothers storm the Cheesecake Factory

First, the obligatory Americana report.
Observation 1) The line snaking all the way down the sidewalk for the Cheesecake Factory before opening on Mother's Day was kind of pathetic.
Observation 2) The patio at Katsuya looks pleasant, but who wants to eat expensive sushi at noon with the sun beating down? Katsuya seems like more of a nighttime spot.
Observation 3) Eleven o'clock is kind of late to start opening restaurants on Sunday. People might like to have breakfast before they shop. We ended up at Cafe Primo, a decent enough cafe that got completely slammed since it was the only place open, resulting in an angry horde of shoppers yelling at the cooks "Just hand me my bagel, right now!" (OK, that was me, but everyone was doing it.) Enough of the Americana. I suppose you could eat at the crepe stand or the Jody Maroni sausage stand if you're desperate, but better to eat somewhere else if possible. Palate Food & Wine is in the former Cinnabar space on Brand

Anyway, Octavio Becerra's Palate on Brand looks ready to open any day now. There's a grape theme, with giant shiny grapes hanging above the booths and photos of grapes screened onto the wall dividers. So yes, wine is the focus, and there's even an "eno-gastronomic library," according to this report from EaterLA.

No, this is definitely not the bar from Yee Mee Loo. Apparently it's in storage.

NY Times does Sgt. Recruiter

The NY Times, which sometimes seems to cover L.A. almost as much as the L.A. Times, drops in at Sgt. Recruiter on Hollywood Blvd. this week. There are some odd observations -- a gaggle of pony-tailed moms are somehow equated with "loud look-at-me types," while a blond philosopher offers that "it's not repulsive." Well, no, I should hope not. The author is Samantha Bonar, who has written some of the worst offenders of the L.A. Times' always-repulsive singles/"Tell" column. I'm sure she's a lovely person, but that column has got to go.