It was brought to my attention by a friend and fellow Modernist design enthusiast, that in the June issue of Dwell magazine, Eames Demetrios wrote a letter to the editor, in regards to allowing Modernica to advertise in their magazine.  

I recently just posted the flyer for the Modernica sale on WF and have somewhat naively purchased products from them thinking they were the Eames reproductions.  I was led to believe they were the same ones that are being sold on DWR, my nemesis.  These are produced by Herman Miller.  I should have known you get what you pay for.  Though this is not true in this case.  I purchased my shell chair with arms at the warehouse sale a few years back for $80 bucks, but brand new it goes for the same price as the Herman Miller one.  If I had to buy one now, at full price, I guess I would go with the Herman Miller one. 

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Plating a dish is almost the best part of cooking to me, second only to eating.  It’s the finale of a process.  I love figuring out ways to make the food look even more enticing.  These things should be thought about prior to even planning the menu.  I only plate though when i’m serving a meal for less than 8 people.  Anymore and I feel like i’m running a catering company.   Plating can be the ultimate sign of a control freak in the kitchen, meaning I want to make sure you are tasting the correct flavor combinations at once.

A couple things to think about when creating your own plating.  

1. Consider color of foods that will be on the plate together

2. What textures does the dish have and how can those textures be accentuated by the plating?

3. Who is the star of the plate and how can you make this apparent?

4. Leave negative space on the plate.  This isn’t TGIFridays.  

Notice the large plates you will receive a couple bites of food on at some restaurants.

Allowing the food room to breathe is a nice touch and treats the vessel as a blank canvas.

5. Garnish types-  a garnish can be as simple as fresh ground pepper or another ingredient that was used in the preparation of the dish.  I love finishing with sea salt as well.

6. Who is your audience.

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Sundays are my days to cook a nice dinner that might take a little more love and time than usual.  But I usually keep in mind that it’s OK to make plenty and have a repeat meal during the week.  

I have searched a few markets for the increasingly popular cut of beef, hanger steak, which has shown up on many higher end restaurants menus.  When slow cooked to a pink tenderness it can be a very buttery and flavorful cut.  Aptly nick-named the butcher’s cut since there is only one per animal, the butcher is known to take it home for himself.  It’s texture resembles that of a skirt steak but is not as tough and is thicker allowing for slow roasting.  It is also known as onglet in French.

It’s a relatively inexpensive cut of meat which seems to be more and more the trend these days that restaurants like Hatfield’s in Los Angeles and Tartine in SF would serve it at an entree price point of $30 and upwards.  There’s no doubt that it is delicious but the price of the entree seems a bit exorbitant, when you can find it at the butcher for about $5 per lb.  Neither Whole Foods nor Gelson’s seemed to have it.  I was able to find it at a Ranch 99 location in Monterey Park after having dimsum.  I hadn’t been in one of these Chinese chain grocery stores in awhile.  This one on Atlantic Blvd.  seemed to be quite exceptional.  The seafood and butcher had such a huge, fresh selection and offered full service.  Most Asian dishes cook a fish whole.  Most Westerners are not used to being reminded of where their food came from.  Ranch 99 provide the cleaning, and filleting, of fresh whole fish at no extra charge.  I was also able to find pork belly here with or without the bone, another ingredient increasing in popularity at the fancy restaurant.  But that’s another entry-  Asian markets.

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A couple weeks ago, my better half, Jason Filipow, aka JRF, was invited to participate in a typography show at a clothing store in Los Angeles, Rodan vs. Griffith.  After finishing up the movie poster for Death Bowl to Downtown, skateboarding documentary about the evolution of skateboarding in NY, he was definitely inspired to do some art work.  Here’s a sneak piece of his type piece.

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The somewhat annual Modernica 2008 Sales Event is upon us again.  Mark your calendars. I caught wind of this from a friend of a friend of a friend.  It’s been a couple years since I have gone, but it is well worth it.  Usually, they have a pre-sale the Thursday night before the actual weekend sale, but I’m not sure if that is happening this year. Still waiting for my postcard before hoards of people read about this in the LA Weekly.

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A couple weekends ago, between attending baby showers and launching WF, I was able to stop by a wonderful store opening in Studio CIty.  It was the grand opening weekend of the store Henry Road, which carries the wares and textiles of the same name, by founder and creator, Paula Smail.   

The shop is brightly lit and packed with hard to find unique items ranging from one of a kind antique tea cups and saucer turned candles to art work hung on the salon wall to decorative Chinese calligraphy brushes.  I was happy to see the line of Alyssa Ettinger knit impressed ceramics.  Last Fall, I had ordered some online through Etsy and had to pay quite a fee for the individual shipping costs for each item I ordered though they were shipped in one package. bummer. This line of delicate dishes and vases, are perfect for the person who thinks they have everything.  

The store is like going to someone’s home that just loves decorating and knickknacks and is quite possibly a borderline packrat, and I mean that in the most endearing way.  I, myself, fall into that category. The best part is that almost everything you see is for sale.  Her bright textiles and patterns would warm up any decor style.  They are reminiscent of the boldness of Marimekko, who currently have a tribute line at H & M.

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You will rarely find store bought salad dressing in my fridge.  I find dressing salads with lemon juice and a good olive oil very satisfying.  I am a sucker for ranch dressing on french fries, but that’s another story.  

This vinaigrette is a basic standby that everyone should know how to make.  It has the basic components of a dressing; acid and emulsification.  I have included some options and twists on it but the standard as is, is a no fail dressing.

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This is a warm weather favorite of mine.  I love beets and using golden beets instead of the magenta ones are much neater to cook with.  You don’t  have to worry about the red stains on your fingers and cutting boards.  The earthiness of beets complements any pungent cheese.  Here, I have crumbled the predictable goat cheese, but also snuck in some stinky stilton I had in the fridge.  My BF hates bleu cheese, which is one of my favorites, but I can sneak it into a salad like this in small doses or into my all beef herbed burgers.   

I happened to go to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market that morning and was able to score some really good greens which included the following:  frisee, wild arugula, which is much stronger and pungent than baby arugula, golden beets, and even a romanesco cauliflower, and blood oranges.  How I love spring.

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I went to Mozza Pizzeria the other night, somewhat impromptu with a friend.  I was working across the strees and figured I’d give the old walk-in bar myth a try.  At 7pm on a Wednesday night, the place is actually quite pleasant.  No crowds at the door. The bars (wine and wood fire oven) were half-filled, meaning my chances of getting a spot at the bar, sans one month prior to the date reservations, was good.  I waited the 10 minutes for my friend to show which felt like an absolute eternity.  More and more people started filing in.  This included some celebs like Michael J. Fox and his wife, Drew Barrymore and new boyfriend Justin So-and-so.  Of course I really don’t care that much about celebrity sitings.  I only care about one thing- getting a seat.

A learned a couple interesting things that night and tried a couple new things as well.  This was the fourth time i had eaten here, fifth if you count the Osteria next door.  We got the menu and I new I had to have the chicken liver crostini with guanciale.  Basically, I had it in my mind to order anything with guanciale.  The crostini and the pizza with guanciale and egg are delicious.  My bubble was burst when I got the new menu in hand.  All guanciale was replaced with pancetta.  Pancetta!?@!*%@!  How pedestrian.  It was here that I fell in love with it. I  had learned of it when reading the book Heat.  How could they do this to me?  I even hunted down a local source, Silverlake Cheese Store.

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I have now made this dish three times in the last couple months.  I originally, set out to find a better lamb shank recipe than just doing the same braised, red wine reduction that I do for short ribs.  As usual, I did my fair share of cross referencing and found two interesting recipes.  One from Chocolate and Zucchini and one from Epicurious, which is actually from a restaurant in Chicago, Bistro 110.

Following is an adaptation of these two recipes. I omitted the potentially messy red wine overnight marinade and the vegetable potato stew feel in the second recipe was replaced with serving the shanks with a creamy polenta and a reduction sauce.

The dish was such a success at girls’ night that I made if for my brother in SF and then for a group of friends at my place for an impromptu Sunday evening supper.  The one in the photos was the most recent, which I topped with raw, fresh English peas from the Hollywood Farmers’ Market for a nice crunchy, fresh texture.

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I title this with entry with complete affection and a tinge of jealousy.  My friend, Bebe Lerner, had informed me about the Christian Louboutin appearance at the Beverly Hills Barneys New York store on May 7th.  Of couse, I had received the postcard but had written it off as another impossibility to attend at 2pm on a Wednesday.  Most people who can attend things like that live a life of leisure and don’t report to a desk job. Unfortunately, I am not quite there yet.

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Before there was Rachel Zoe, there was Jennifer Hluska.  Half Italian, half Polish, she has a flair for putting together those outfits of cheap mall clothing and a sky high pair of Costume National ankle boots.  Or vice versa, a Marni dress off Ebay with pleather flip flops.  Her fashion sense sometimes mimics her mood swings.  high low, high low.  Lucky for her, she is petite and all clothing looks good on her.  I on the other hand, cannot seem to get away with it as easily.  Most things from Forever 21, or should I say Forever 31 since our thirties are the new twenties, are ill fitting on me.  I either look four months pregnant or like I got dressed in the dark.  

The YSL screw ring is an exaggerated gold toned adjustable ring.  it’s purely for flash factor and satisfies the high low craving we all have.  She was flashing it around one day and I had to have it.  Working on Rodeo Drive doing hair, has your advantages.  She was able to pick one up for me the very next day.  We knew they would be selling out quickly since it was highlighted in Bazaar or Vogue last month in their high, low mixing it up article.  I couldn’t find this style on the YSL site but i think they still have the silver toned ones left at the store.  

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i received a postcard in the mail from one of my favorite online home shopping sites, velocityartanddesign.com

the coupon code is for 10% off on angela adams rugs.  ADAMS2008

good thru june 30, 2008.  she has some new designs out.  i find her rugs to be very warm and inviting, and well crafted (they better be for the price) but for the price points they are at, i do have to really consider this kind of purchase as well as how long it will be before i will tire of the pattern…

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