Mozza 2 Go

Mozza. Probably the most talked about Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. A Hollywood blockbuster with a long list of detractors. I've eaten here once. The food was great as was the service. But I don't know if I will ever go back. Trying to get a reservation was almost as easy as getting the IRS on the phone. The clientele who populate the place could be summed up as "that lady in Prada screaming into her cell phone while changing lanes on the 405". And it ain't cheap either.

"Mozza 2 Go" poses some interesting possibilities. Food is still pricey but you get to enjoy it in the comfort of your own home, car or Hollywood Bowl concert. You can get the pizza with considerably less wait. I was at Melrose Mac the other day and decided to give it a whirl.



I still can't believe I haven't tried the pizza. I guess I'm just not crazy for pizza like I am for burgers, or braised veal like I had at my visit to Osteria Mozza. I went with the chicken panini, and as boring as that sounds it came with a very high recommendation from the girl behind the counter.



This thing cost $15. What recession? a $15 chicken sandwich? Sure! But wait, it's huge and delicious. I mean, Mario Batali, Nancy Silverton, the line cook from Peru, whoever it is that is working in that kitchen can COOK. Trust me, this thing is almost worth the $15 and I'm a broke dude.

Fork tender roasted chicken, thick cut premium bacon, ripe avocado, and a panini made by a bread master. The ingredients are top notch, the execution is flawless, you can't hate on someone making something the very best they can and then charging a premium for it. Mozza, and yes even Mozza 2 Go may not be an everyday, Hell, a once a month staple but the quality is there and when you do say goodbye to your 15 George Washingtons you can at least have the pleasure of holding this bad boy in your hand.

Lamb and Eggs

When I was 10 years old, after spending a morning of watching cartoons, I went scrounging in the kitchen for something to eat. Home alone like Macaulay Culkin, I was free to do a little experimentation. Earlier that Spring I had fallen in love with lamb loin chops cooked on the grill, and steak and eggs was(and is) my favorite breakfast, so I decided to combine the two. As I was flipping the chops my Dad came home.

--"Are you cooking?" he said.
--"Yup"
--"Is that Lamb? And eggs?"
--"Yup"
-- What 10 year old makes lamb chops and eggs for breakfast?"

A legend was born. My commitment to lamb in the morning had begun.

A couple Saturdays ago I picked up a few lamb chops at a nameless Armenian butcher shop in East Hollywood. They came pre-seasoned and were great deal at $5.99lb. Fry a couple eggs over easy and you have one hearty and unique breakfast. You know how good it is to dip steak into a runny yolk, next time try lamb.

Goat Curry Love

Every now and then, the LA Times food section can come up with a real gem, a hidden treasure that most of us would pass by without a second glance. Taurat Tandoori, a Bangladeshi run, Halal eatery, is that latest gem. A place not only worthy of a posting here, but a place I have visited three times in three weeks. Its that good, well THE GOAT is THAT GOOD.



While I would love to try the Nehari(6 hour simmered beef shank curry) or the Goat Korma, its what you see above you that keeps you coming back again and again. If Middle America has White Castle, then surely this is the late night(or mid afternoon) crave of Bangladesh.



The meat is ridiculously tender. The sauce/gravy that surrounds it steals the show. Butter and spice are in synchronicity. You can get naan, but trust me and stick with the rice. The combination of the sauce, rice and a little meat is Heaven. You could easily split this but you wont want to. You will finish the bowl like its your last meal on earth. As I write this Im thinking about going for a mid afternoon/dinner spoiler.



The Secret Ingredient

Its Fat folks. Yeah, thats one of the reasons it tastes so good. Slowly rendered till most of it is in liquid form, every now and then you can fish out a chunk. And yes, you can eat it, I mean, you eat ALL of the bacon strip right?

The lack of AC and personality of the staff are more than made up for in the product served. As a child of Bangladeshi immigrants, I grew up, like others I'm sure, not really liking the cuisine of my genetic origin. And guess what? I still dont but this goat curry is an extraordinary exception. Unless you hate meat or free pool tables(they have a no coin slot billiard table) I will see you over at Vermont and 1st street.

The best Pastrami in the Universe: Langer's

Eat your heart out New York. The best Pastrami sandwich is a Los Angeleno. An East side one, at that. Sitting at the corner of 7th and Alvarado, yards away from where Captain David Aceveda and the late Terry Crowley met in the pilot of the Shield, is Langer’s, one of the best restaurants in the city.





You are here for one reason, and one reason only. The number 19. Hand carved pastrami sitting on impeccable rye bread. Before we even get to the slaw can we talk a bit about that rye bread? The crust is sharp; the rest of the bread just melts in your mouth, kinda like the pastrami. The caraway seed crust kicks in nicely like the turbo in Crockett’s Daytona Spyder. It’s the best Rye bread I have ever had because it makes me feel like I am on Miami Vice. The slaw is amazing. It’s more than just mayo, vinegar, carrot and cabbage. The slaw knows it’s got an important role to play, it has got to share a stage with that wonderful hand cut pastrami. Slaw motions to Russian dressing to put on it’s “A” game. Russian dressing comes through. And then there is the Swiss cheese. I forgo Swiss at other places for getting in the way; this is simply not the case at Langer’s. Here the Swiss cheese has every right to be there as the strung out dude in the booth next to you with just enough change to get a small bowl of cabbage soup. I have taken a bite into the number 19, its bliss, but before I put the sandwich down I take another bite. Uh-oh. Overload. I sit and chew and chew like a cow off the 5 halfway to San Francisco. But I am far better off than the cow. For I am eating really, really, really good cow.



Langer’s offers many more combinations than just the number 19. Chopped liver, Corned beef, a dip, and tomato are just a few of the many Pastrami possibilities at Langer’s. Some purists go for the sandwich plain, and then add on some mustard. Feeling kinda tough today, I decided to go for it like Rocky at the end of Rocky V, and I order another sandwich. Am I glad I skipped the French fries.





I went with some yellow mustard and went pretty easy on it. It was a whole different sandwich. In comparison, the number 19 is a weekend trip to Vegas, over the top, straight up indulgent. Going plain, and then adding some mustard was a study in control, an experiment in tasting the pastrami. It’s the difference between beer chugging and wine tasting. Hard to go wrong with either but plain with mustard is my new gold standard for judging pastrami. Slaw, Swiss and Russian dressing are for when I’m hung over.





I had to try the other half with brown mustard. In a nutshell, yellow mustard wins. The sharpness of the yellow serves as a better contrast to the richness of the meat. Brown ain’t bad, but it’s not the best. What it really comes down to is a matter of personal taste and at Langer’s that means a battle of these three condiments:



Brown mustard, house made Russian dressing, Yellow mustard.

Like most delicatessen’s, Langer’s features a huge menu that could tempt one to veer off the Pastrami highway but this is simply not advised. Unless you happen to go after the best kept secret at Langer’s: the corned beef.



Thanks to our waiter, the kind of professional you seem to find only at stalwarts like Langer’s, for recommending the Corned Beef. It was awesome. It was actually richer than the Pastrami, every bit as good but more rich than savory. We hit the trifecta with a Corned Beef with Swiss and Russian dressing on the side. My beef shame was countered by the discovery of this Corned Beef; this meat was truly God’s work.



The half on the left, just above the bread on the bottom, is glorious fat.



Langer’s is a city treasure. After all these years it still churns out a product worthy of it’s reputation and gives Los Angeles a serious old school food rep. My guess is I will eventually try everything on the menu but only after having a Pastrami on rye. Much like the mural above that hangs in the back of the restaurant; Langer’s is a work of art.