September 19, 2019  Lunch – Café Gratitude. Dinner – Rustic Canyon

I replicated the Vietnamese Crepe for breakfast perfectly.  I whisked three egg whites and one yolk and fried them into a large egg pancake.  I flipped it and cooked the other side slightly and then removed it to a plate.  I then sautéed the PPI bun noodles, ground beef, and fish from our dinner at Pho.  When the noodles, meat, and sauce were heated I laid them on one-half of the egg pancake/crepe and folded it in half. Voila, I had made a Vietnamese crepe.

We left around 10:30 and picked up Luke’s friend, Jacqueline, and drove to the Armand Hammer Museum downtown.  We arrived at 11:45 just in time for our entry reservation at 12:00.  We did not like much of the contemporary art, except for the large central gallery of large works by Mark Bradford.  We were especially impressed with the large mostly blue work depicting the fires in Watts during the riots in 1968.

At 1:00 we had seen all the art on the third floor and were hungry, so Luke drove us to what he called a typically California vegan restaurant Named Café Gratitude in a trendy new urbanism development with apartments and commercial establishments mixed together.

Suzette and I had trouble finding a dish to order.  Suzette ended up getting a falafel with black beans and toast and I ordered a salad with slices of avocado, Bibb lettuce, sunflower sprouts, and a bitter dressing.  Luke ordered an awful tasting dish of boiled rice vermicelli noodles coated with a tahini pesto. They each got cups of coffee.  The bill was $91.00 without tax.  Amazing.

I

                                                   Vegan Guacamole and fried corn chips

We then drove Luke and Jacqueline to her apartment and we then drove to Santa Monica and after stopping on the beach for a restroom stop we drove up onto Ocean Ave. and walked along the path on the crest of the cliffs next t the ocean.  The views were great and the vegetarian was magnificent.  I loved the old eucalyptus trees and unbelievably tall royal palms.

We then drove the  few blocks through Santa Monica to the Rustic Canyon restaurant at 1119 Wilshire, eleven blocks from the beach.  We were seated at 5:30 and perused the menu.  We son came to the decision t split three dishes; figs charred under the salamander filled with guacamole and garnished with trout caviar.  This was a highly successful dish, with the softness of the trout eggs and guacamole complementing each other. We hade never had a broiled fig before and rather liked it.

We then were served Beets and Berries with avocado, rancho gordo quinoa, and pistachio "soil".  I liked the red quinoa, but the pickling medium on the beets was to vinegary.

Finally our entrée arrived and again I marveled at the skill the fancy California Cuisine restaurants have in handling fish,  we ordered Rockfish and it was more like monkfish.  Tender but firm to the touch. Our waitress said the cooking method used was to put the filets in a pan and let them sit until
the entire fish is fully cooked.  Interesting.

I am beginning to think my blog is more like food field notes, rather than fully vetted recipes.

Our entrée was served with Sautéed Romano Beans, in a Middle Eastern sauce of Sumac, a bit of olive is, and puréed eggplant, which was my favorite part of the meal, like the roasted carrots were my favorite part of the meal last night along with the grilled sea bass on fresh Hoja Santa leaves.

I think I understand the gist of New California Cuisine.  It is based on freshness of ingredients
presented simply or in combination with fusion with other cuisines, depending upon the inclination of  the chef.

For example, Robust Canyon’s menu changed every night with lots of fusion sauces, while Audrey’s was a more static menu, with more emphasis on clean well defined flavors of ingredients.

Actually, the wine list was better and its wine prices were better at Rustic Canyon.  We shared a ½ bottle of 2018 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc that is arguably the best Sauvignon Blanc made in America for $35.00.

At 7:00 after dinner we drove the 3.5 miles up the Pacific Coast Highway to the J. Paul Getty  Villa to see the Greek tragedy called Heal in the recreated Greek/Roman outdoor amphitheater.  We claimed two seats by leaving our extra shirts on them and then ran t the snack bar and bought a slice of flourless chocolate cake that tasted a lot like my recipe for French flourless cake made with eggs, chocolate, sugar, and a T. of flour.  We then walked to the coffee kiosk and ordered a cup of Café au lait and returned to our seats and enjoyed our dessert with coffee in the cool night air.

 

The Heal is a professional production by the Roundhouse Theater of Bethesda, Maryland of an modern adaptation of Sophocles play named “Philoctetes”.  It has a universal theme of how we are all wounded by events in life, usually of our own making, that we must learn to overcome.  For more detailed information, check out the Wikipedia entry at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philoctetes_(Sophocles_play)

After the play ended we drove back to the Silver Lake.  What was really cool was we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and through a series of underground tunnels and ramps onto I-10 from the Pacific Ocean.  So we started our trip eastward from the shore of the Pacific Ocean, the largest Ocean in the world.

Driving on the freeways at night is like a continuous act of faith that no one else will screw up or get overly aggressive, including yourself.  I tried to keep six or seven car lengths distance between the Prius at 60 mph and the vehicle in front  while more aggressive drivers weaved in front of me.  I had to control my emotions he hold my lane and maintain my distance as the assholes sped by. Our speed varied from 65 to 18 mph as we wove through downtown and changed from the I-10 to the I-5.

Finally we made it home alive and in one piece and celebrated with a glass of rose.

A beautiful day of art, food, and culture.

Bon Appetit