I’ve been following my own advice and eating out much more than I usually do. It’s been a powerful lesson in the grounding effect eating out has, even walking through the door of a restaurant. A disaster like what we’re going through makes one prepare to flee and stay simultaneously. We feel like we’re poised on an eggshell. But when you sit down in a restaurant, you experience a cascade of familiar sensory experiences, and I’m not talking about the food. The opening of the door and crossing the threshold into a particular environment where you know you’re about to take a pause. The background noise of chatter, plates and cutlery clinking together, liquids being poured, waiters taking orders — it’s all so familiar, we usually don’t think about it. But somehow it calms a restive mind. I experienced all of this dining out last week. Like Tejal Rao of the New York Times said, “This isn’t about chasing the perfect meal. It’s about feeling a part of where you live.” It’s a counterpart to mutual aid volunteering.
If you want an idea of how urgently restaurants need us, look no further than the announcement this week from the Rustic Canyon Family restaurant group that Cassia is closing. Their last day will be February 22. They say that it started with COVID, and just as they were finding their feet again, the writers’ strike hit. The fire was the last straw. When it comes to the menu at Cassia, I crave the laksa rice noodles, spicy coconut-seafood soup. But the whole menu is so delicious that I can get paralyzed with ordering FOMO. Will I get their unique take on mapo tofu too? Yes. Enjoy them while you can.
And a reminder that it’s DineLA Week. The event started on the 24th and runs through February 7th. Last week when I proposed a few places to eat near Altadena, I promised a follow-up for the West Side. Traditionally DineLA has been an opportunity to check out restaurants through a curated menu at a discounted price. You can search by neighborhood. The LA Tourism Board that organizes it will donate $5 per reservation to The American Red Cross, with a match from Banc of California, raising the total donation up to $100,000. Looking at the DineLA choices for Santa Monica, a few places I’d go are:
Michael’s, which is a landmark and still an engaging respite from the city with its OG California Cuisine menu so closely linked to the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market. Kim and Michael McCarty lost their house to the Palisades Fire. Their DineLA offering is a $65 three-course meal.
Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger’s casual place Socalo, which is offering a $15 lunch and a $45 dinner. Milliken and Feniger are exceptional long-time LA chef-restaurateurs and are part of the World Kitchen response to the fires. Let’s support them.
Farther east in Cheviot Hills, I’d go to Aroma Café, the Bosnian gem in a strip mall on Overland. The bread they bake in-house reminds me of the bread we used to make at Angeli. Stuffed inside, you can get ćevapi, the Balkan skinless sausage, or a wonderful mixture of grilled peppers with broccoli and zucchini enriched with feta cream. Jonathan Gold loved their burger, which he described as wide rather than high.
And to finish off today’s recommendations, these aren’t from DineLA, but If I just want to grab a sandwich or have a personal charcuterie tray, I’d go to Lady and Larder on Pico. They have a secret sandwich menu. The Hot Girl Salami is like an upscale Godmother. I want to give special love to Sarah Simms, who lost her twin and business partner Boo last week. And, of course if I’m in Santa Monica, I’m swinging by Petitgrain Boulangerie on Wilshire for exceptional French pastries with a hug on the side.