Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

21 Dec 2012

Anticucheria Peruana – Los Angeles (Norwalk)

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Anticucheria Peruana, also known as Anticucheria Danessi, may very well be California’s first restaurant dedicated to anticuchos, grilled Peruvian skewers. In addition to the signature offal offerings, Mario Danessi’s brightly lit and colorfully painted spot also serves mariscos, fruits of the sea prepared with Peruvian flare.

The Astronomer and I stopped in for lunch while exploring southeastern Los Angeles.

While we waited for our food to arrive, we couldn’t help but admire the amazing mural spanning the entire length of the restaurant. It featured a multicultural cast chowing down on beef hearts, stomach lining, and Peruvian doughnuts. They were the happiest looking cartoon folks I’d ever seen.

The anticuchos de corazon, thinly sliced beef hearts seasoned in a wicked aji colorado marinade, are the restaurant’s signature dish. While the heart of the matter was appealingly chewy, its edges were charred just so.

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{swoon}

19 Dec 2012

{swoon} “The Chronic” at Mom’s Burgers

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Joyce “Mom” McLaurin opened Mom’s Burgers over three decades ago to bring simple yet immensely satisfying fast-food style fare to the neighborhood. Stroll up to the window to place your order, and then wait for a gentle tap on the Plexiglas window to signal when it’s ready to be picked up.

Waits can be a bit long since everything is made to order, so call ahead for a curbside pickup or better yet, bump to the slow jams blasting from the speakers or partake in an impromptu game of chess. Both work up an appetite quite nicely. Once the goods are in hand, grab a seat at one of the stools along the counter or at the umbrella-shaded tables hidden beside the building.

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Restaurant Review

17 Dec 2012

Cemitas Poblanas Don Adrian – Van Nuys

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It takes a massive jaw and a serious appetite to conquer a cemita poblana, a beast of a sandwich constructed from a plush sesame roll jam-packed with ripe avocados, panela cheese, Oaxacan string cheese, salsa, onions, and any number of proteins. Here at Cemitas Don Adrian, the Pueblan specialty comes together like a dream.

A thoroughly enticing write up by Linda Burum in the Times inspired The Astronomer and me to pay this Valley sandwich shop a visit. We arrived at neither the lunch nor dinner hour, which meant that we had the place practically to ourselves.

On our first trip to Don Adrian, The Astronomer and I shared a cemita layered with cecina adobada, a kind of beef jerky that the shop’s proprietor Adolfo Huerta makes in-house using techniques and recipes passed down from his grandfather Don Adrian. With its distinct notes of achiote and cumin, the cecina adobada was absolutely irresistible. Of all the proteins available, this one packed the biggest wallop.

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