It’s raining and thundering today in Los Angeles, which means it’s the perfect time to finally write about Parsnip. Here on a quieter stretch of York Boulevard in Highland Park, Aracelly Flores and Anca Caliman are cooking up Romanian comfort food with a California point of view.

The Astronomer, June, and I came in for dinner on a Friday evening. After placing our order inside, we grabbed a table on the sidewalk and settled in for some eastern European cooking.

Every table contained a condiment jar filled with pico verde, a spicy and vinegary brew brimming with onions, chiles, and dill that tasted terrific atop just about every dish.

First up were a duo of dumplings. The baseball-sized bulz ($5), polenta dumplings filled with cheese, red peppers, and sauerkraut, were served with sour cream and benefited from the table-side pico verde.