Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

14 May 2012

Water Grill – Los Angeles (Downtown)

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I never had any desire to dine at downtown’s Water Grill until recently, when the restaurant underwent a massive renovation and thoughtful rebranding. Fine dining can be a lovely sport, but here in Los Angeles I tend to gravitate toward inexpensive ethnic food, with a sprinkling of trendy hot spots, rather than white table clothed rooms.

After several months of closure and 1.5 million dollars in investments, the former bastion of fine dining has been transformed into a lively urban seafood shack, complete with an open kitchen and a gorgeous marble bar. The prices are still quite hefty, but the vibe is definitely more upbeat and the menu more approachable.

Curious to check out the new Water Grill, I grabbed my friend and fellow downtown worker bee Darin for a post-work bite. We snagged two seats at the bar with stellar views of oysters being shucked and seafood towers being built. The restaurant was roaring on a Tuesday night.

Our waiter brought over warm bread with butter as we glanced over the menus. Both the coarse salt-topped sourdough and the caramelized onion and cheese rolls were terrific. The butter, though gratuitous, was welcomed with each bite.

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Recipe

11 May 2012

Ruth Reichl’s Old Fashioned Lemon Pudding Cake

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When Ruth Reichl tells you to bake a Lemon Pudding Cake, the only proper response is, “I’ll preheat the oven!”

Even though I had never before tasted an old fashioned pudding cake, I immediately bookmarked this recipe when it was featured on her blog back in March. Ms. Reichl has a lovely way with words, and the way she described this classic dessert as “part cake, part souffle, a little bit pudding” sounded absolutely irresistible to me.

With only six ingredients on the docket and little prep required, this Lemon Pudding Cake comes together in a relative snap. The only really daunting part is waiting the full 45 minutes for it to bake up nice and golden. I made the cake as the grand finale to our recent anniversary dinner, and The Astronomer and I could not have been more satisfied with the results.

The whipped egg whites created a souffle-like effect, while the egg yolks anchored everything in a tangy pool of lemon curd. In between the two strata was an ever-so-light layer of cake. We dug in with two spoons just as soon as it came out of the oven. It may have singed our tongues and the roofs of our mouths a little, but man, it was worth it. Pudding cake is overdue for a comeback.

3 lemons
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar, divided
Salt
1/4 cup cake or all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350.

Grate the zest from 3 lemons, then squeeze the juice. You should have about 1/2 cup.

Separate 3 large eggs. Add the lemon juice and zest to the yolks, then whisk in 1 1/3 cup of milk. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar, a dash of salt, and 1/4 cup of flour.

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Restaurant Review

09 May 2012

Hae Jang Chon – Los Angeles (Koreatown)

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For the nominal price of $17.99 per person, Hae Jang Chon provided my cousins, The Astronomer, and me with an all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue feast that was so stupendous that it left our clothes and pores imbued with smoke and meat for days.

What set this barbecue emporium apart from others that I have visited in Koreatown [See: Don Day, Don Dae Gam, Tahoe Galbi] was the smooth stone grill used in place of the more common metal grates.

According to the restaurant’s website, the stone grill is “nature’s best cooking surface.” It “produces various healthy minerals,” “absorbs and decomposes heavy metal ions,” and best of all, “absorbs excessive oil to bring out the exquisite taste of pork.” I don’t know if any of these claims are actually true, but I am sold nevertheless.

Another one of the restaurant’s notable touches was the homey tablescape that was neatly set before we were seated. Each place setting included an array of condiments in addition to silverware and plates. I went through two dishes of the fermented bean paste during the meal because meat just tastes better with a hit of salty funk.

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