*The Local Report - McCall's Meat & Fish Co.

1.9 miles, about 5 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

There's a new butcher in town and boy am I happy. It seems that the neighborhood butcher has gone by the wayside and that more and more people are relying on supermarket butchers. While the guys at my local Whole Foods are very helpful and knowledgeable, there's nothing quite like the personal rapport one develops with a local, neighborhood butcher. Like the one I am establishing with chef-butchers, and husband and wife team, Nathan McCall and Karen Yoo. I have been in several times and appreciate the hands on service they have given me. Whether it be advice on what cut to buy, or how to cook it the duo is more than accommodating. McCall and Yoo both have backgrounds as professional chefs; McCall cooked at Los Angeles restaurants Café Pinot and Sona; he also spent time in the kitchen of Spain's Michelin three star restaurant Arzak followed up with time at Daniel Boulud's Restaurant Daniel in New York City. Yoo, trained as a pastry chef, worked in the kitchens of Campanile, Sona and Restaurant Daniel. Given their experiences in professional kitchens they should be the go-to-butchers for both the professional chef and the home cook. Who better to buy meat and fish from than those who have the experience cooking it? It's a great combination.

To add to the package they only source their meat, as they state on their website, 'from traditional farms where animals are naturally and humanely raised on the best feed without the use of hormones or chemical enhancements.' Their 'fish is wild-caught and/or responsibly raised in the most natural environment.' They stock CAB (Certified Angus Beef) Beef, Kurobuta (Berkshire to us) pork, lamb, locally raised poultry (from KenDor Farms in Van Nuys), eggs, house made sausages (pork-fennel and garlic-paprika), and sushi grade salmon and tuna among other seafood. Check the chalkboard specials for such items as duck, rabbit, squab and leg of lamb. They also sell a hand picked selection of gourmet oils, vinegars, salt and pepper, and other specialty cooking products. Given their propensity to be local and sustainable they could almost be a butcher my great-grandmother went to albeit without the sawdust on the floor and the banging screen door. And that is a comforting thought. I'll be going to McCall's often. It is so close to home. Welcome to the neighborhood Nathan and Karen!

Chef-butchers Karen Yoo and Nathan McCall

McCall's Meat & Fish Co.
2117 Hillhurst Ave.
Los Angeles, California 90027
323-667-0674 (ph.)
323-667-0802 (fax)
www.mccallsmeatandfish.com
www.twitter.com/mcallsmandf

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and 'living life locally'; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundered miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I'd love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson AT 100miles DOT com, or leave a comment here.

Upcoming Posts: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I went to in Napa. Reviews: My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur by Romney Steele, The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe.

Guest Blog: 'That's The Ticket' by Lori Berhon

First of all, I can't believe it's been a month since my last blog post. How did that happen? It's been a very busy time for me. At the beginning of September I celebrated a milestone birthday. Mid-September was the big bash with family and friends from near and far (Paris even!) to celebrate said birthday. I am in the midst of a major overhaul and redesign of my blog. And I started back to my full-time job as a movie marketing consultant. Ack! Just. Not. Enough. Time. Hopefully, that much time between posts will not happen again. I aim to be sure it does not. In any case apologies for being away. I think I am back.

I have always been interested in both food and film; I have been lucky enough to work in both with some degree of success in each. I started my professional life learning to cook in France; upon my return to the U.S. I worked in the food and restaurant industry for many years. One of the jobs was working for the Italian film producer Dino de Laurentiis (Giada's grandfather) when he opened his Italian-esque food emporium, DDL Foodshow, in New York City. The job started off with many of the Foodshow personnel working out of Dino's film production offices in the Gulf & Western Building on Columbus Circle. It was there that I met my friend Lori Berhon. She was a receptionist at Dino De Laurentiis Productions before coming to work with us at the Foodshow. That was in 1982; we're still friends. Lori loves to cook, try new restaurants, and eat well which we did, and do, often in New York, and whenever she makes it out to California.

As mentioned above I recently had a milestone birthday. Lori came out to Los Angeles from New York to help me celebrate. While she was here she mentioned a food and film piece she recently wrote for her company newsletter. I asked her to send it to me and she did. I so enjoyed reading it, and it is full of such good information on foodie films that I asked her to guest blog it on 100 Miles.

So take it away, Lori...

That's The Ticket!

With summer blockbuster season coming to an end (and where were all the blockbusters this year anyway?), I was planning to take another recession-beating look at rentable substitutes for hot flicks. I began considering Julie/Julia, and I quickly found myself entirely diverted by the subject of food films. There are a lot of them.

A La Cuisine!

Nora Ephron's new film shows how the lives of Julia Child and Julie Powell are changed by French cooking, but this is hardly the first time that particular catalyst has been portrayed on film. Babette's Feast, the 1987 film version of an Isak Dinesen story, shows how French food revitalizes the souls of an elderly Lutheran congregation in Denmark and the refugee they have sheltered. If you heard what Julie Powell was able to accomplish in a kitchen closet in Queens and you think that's impressive, wait 'til you see what Babette Hersant (Stéphane Audran) achieves in an isolated 19th century village.

Lasse Halstrom's whimsical Chocolat (2000), based on the novel by Joanne Harris, implies that sometimes even the French need a little gustatory shakeup. Boasting a rich and delicious cast, this counts as Johhny Depp's first 'chocolate' film.

The eponymous Vatel (Gérard Depardieu) of 2000, an historic French chef, is ordered to achieve the impossible in a 17th century castle. While unusually downbeat for a foodie film, this well-researched, opulent biopic provides a setting of spectacle and intrigue for a truly mind-boggling feast.

International Buffet

France certainly doesn't hold a monopoly on cinematic cuisine. The mouth-watering food in The Big Night (1996) is Italian. Like "Julie/Julia," this film features dramatic kitchen action, period glamour and the always wonderful Stanley Tucci (who also co-directed). The piece de resistance, the Timpano, had audiences drooling and the Tucci family recipe for this baked dome of dough, filled with more layers of deliciousness than a 6 foot Italian sub, was published everywhere. If you find yourself with nothing to do one weekend, here's a link: The Timpano Recipe (from 'Big Night')

In the 1993 version of Laura Esquivel's cult novel Like Water For Chocolate (directed by Alfonso Arau), a Mexican woman's hidden passion magically infuses the food she prepares, conveying a galaxy of emotions to those who eat it. For a kind of kitchen magic you're likely to have experienced in your own life, in Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), a beautiful and quietly funny film by the masterful Ang Lee, food is the medium through which a Taiwanese chef and his daughters communicate love. A few of the many other films that linger memorably over family meals: Pieces of April (2003, before Katie Holmes was half of TomKat) takes on Thanksgiving; George Tilman Jr.'s 1997 Soul Food looks at Sunday dinner; and of course there's My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002).

The chef-protagonist of Sandra Nettlebeck's 2001 German comedy/romance Mostly Martha (aka "Bella Martha") has distanced herself from family and freinds, and form all emotions but anger, until the guardianship of a suddenly orphaned niece forces her to think outside the icebox. Forced to share her restaurant kitchen and to experience life (and food) beyond her control, Martha opens herself up to the possibilities of being human. If the plot sounds familiar, it's because this is the original upon which Hollywood based the 2007 Catherine Zeta-Jones RomCom vehicle, No Reservations.

A different kind of female chef is the downtrodden widow who, while trying to establish the ultimate noodle shop, provides the through-line for the comedy bento box of food motifs that is Juzo Itami's 1985 Tampopo. For the pregnant Southern Waitress of Adrienne Shelly's 2007 indie gem, food - or at least pie - is a metaphor for practically everything.

And for a window into what the landscape was like in the world before The Food Network, check out Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Based on the novel by Nan and Ivan Lyons, this 1978 comic mystery is a dated, slightly hokey, guilty pleasure. Each of the string of victims is found in his kitchen, and the grisly manner of death is related in some way to the chef's signature dish.

NONE of the films mentioned above should be watched on an empty stomach!

Discomfort Food

On the other hand, there is some foodie fare that might benefit from running on empty: cannibal movies.

Are you imagining Anthony Hopkins relishing "fava beans and a nice Chianti" (slurp slurp)? Or maybe remembering your favorite zombie flick? Sure those have their cannibal elements, but what I'm thinking of is the kind of story that turns tables on the foodie genre.

Eating Raoul, Paul Bartel's spoof of contemporary (1982) L.A. swingers features himself and Mary Woronov as a nice conservative couple who only want to be together and would kill to be able to open a restaurant. Literally. In the end, cannibalism is the only way to dispose of a most inconvenient corpse.

A different type of necessity drives the butcher of a Delicatessen (1991, France) on the ground floor of an apartment building. In this future dystopia, meat is incredibly scarce and people mysteriously disappear. Do the math. Then add the star-crossed love of the butcher's and the Chaplinesque outsider hired as a handyman (and future roast) to the complications of this darkly comic tale of survival.

Love and cannibalism figure again in Tim Burton's 2007 film of Stephen Sondheim's opéra bouffe Sweeney Todd. In 19th century London, Man is ground up by Machine (both industrial and political). Haunted and thirsting for vengeance, Mr. Todd slashes out. The adoring, but always practical, baker Mrs. Lovett observes that it "seems an awful waste" to just chuck the body out when she's got a dusty shop full of meatless meat pies. If injustice begets rage and hunger, which in turn beget a psychopathic spree of mass murder and recycling, "It's man devouring man, my dear, and who are we to deny it here?"

Peter Greenaway turns a lush eye on just about every human appetite in his gorgeous and very nasty 1990 fantasia The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. The fabulous cast is lead by Michael Gambon (yes, there was life before "Dumbledore") as The Thief and Helen Mirren as His Wife, and includes appearances by both Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. Greed rules.

T.V. Dinner

I don't care about Michael Pollan's recent N.Y. Times condemnation of televised cooking as the spectator-sport-of-choice for a super sized population - I love foodie television. Pollan's demographic wisdom states that "how to" watchers are stay-at-home moms: while the rest of us kick back at night with our frozen pizza to watch other people eat what we wish was in front of us. Personally, I find it beyond boring to watch Guy Fieri chomp blissfully down on another huge portion of grease and/or carbs, and more boring still to hear his litany of empty catch phrases ("now that's what I'm talking about!" doesn't tell me a thing about the food other than, gee, he really likes it).

What I tune in to see is chefs, pâtissiers, etc. doing what they do best. The more they know what they're doing, the more I want to watch, and the more I'm running to hit the kitchen. No, I'm not likely to pit myself against another cook to see how many different things I can make out of an artichoke or to make a fabulous meal out of a basket of incompatible mystery ingredients. But I do love to cook and starting back with (yes), Julia Child, television chefs exposed me to new ingredients and unfamiliar cuisines. I learned new techniques (no one ever taught me to cut a "chiffonade" of basil - I saw it on T.V.), and continue to learn better ways to do the things I've been doing for years. I may be too tired to cook every night, but when I see Bobbie Flay do a mac-&-cheese "throw down," I may spend the next couple of months of weekends trying out a bunch of mac-&-cheese recipes to see which one I liked best.

To me, foodie T.V. is not only entertainment but education. I'm not the only one who thinks that - after all, PBS was arguably the first food network and they continue to produce some great shows. Today, several networks offer shows that literally cater to every taste. And don't forget that episodes of Julia's original television show, The French Chef, are now available on DVD. Learn a few tricks and, more importantly, learn to embrace the excitement of trying new things in the kitchen.

Bon Appétit!

Lori Berhon is a New York writer who once or twice a month plays hookey from working on her new novel to blog. Her occasional musings can be found @ Light Up The Cave. Her most recently completed novel, The Breast of Everything (which has nothing to do with food) is represented by Roger S. Williams of Publish or Perish Agency.

My Status: September was beyond busy. I hope October is less so. Fall is slowly coming to Southern California; cooler temperatures. Time to think about heartier food. More eating, writing, blogging coming soon.

Upcoming Posts: 'gleaning,' or the act of gathering public produce, or leftover farmer's market produce, and giving it to the poor, needy and hungry. A history of the movement, and those that are involved with it. Reviews: The Berghoff Cafe Cookbook and Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County reminds me of France. I mean look at the above picture of Dry Creek Valley. It could easily have been taken in the south of France. The Languedoc maybe. Or Burgundy to the west even. It also has a lot of what makes France special. Great food, amazing wine, beautiful countryside. Sonoma County, the step-sister to the more well-liked, more popular Napa Valley, is my preference of the two. Slower, rougher, less populated but just as interesting in the areas of food and wine -- and it also has the stunning Sonoma Coast. So take that Napa Valley!

On a recent vacation to the area I was reminded how much folks in the Bay Area like to eat. I'd always known this; from living in San Francisco during the early 80s through the early 90s, and from working in the food and restaurant business. I sold cheese at Oakville Grocery -- the S.F. food emporium; I cooked at Jeremiah Tower's Santa Fe Bar & Grill in Berkeley; I helped Chef Tower open Stars restaurant in San Francisco; I met all the chefs and foodies in town; I ate at all the great restaurants in the area: Stars, Zuni Cafe, Chez Panisse, Square One, Masa's, Mustard's in Napa, on and on. It was a great time to eat in San Francisco. The food scene during that period was phenomenal. Once I'd left it and moved on, I missed it terribly.

Thankfully I was able to experience it again. Robert and I ate very well during our week's stay in Gureneville on the Russian River. I'd read about Zazu Restaurant & Farm, and Bovolo somewhere on the Internet and knew I wanted to try both. Both places are owned by married Chefs Duskie Estes and John Stewart; they also own the Black Pig Meat Co. where they make their own bacon and salumi from pigs that come from a sustainable hog operation, Pure Country Pork, in the Northwest. John is the salumist, studied with Mario Battali, and is responsible for the Black Pig meats, bacon and salumi that Zazu and Bovolo serve. Bovolo is a cafe inside a bookstore in Healdsburg, and Zazu is located on the edge of Santa Rosa and has a kitchen garden.

We ate at Zazu on a Wednesday night. The place was packed. The food was bliss. They describe themselves as a roadhouse restaurant serving playful Americana and Northern Italian inspired food. That is apt and I love the idea of an old-fashioned roadhouse. The place absolutely had that feel. Long and narrow; set just off the two-lane road; a dirt parking lot; and a counter with stools when you first walk in. We started with the Black Pig Salumi - 'Butcher's Plate'; four 'flavors' of salumi: backyard thyme, lomo, harissa, and felino served with pickled grapes. The salumi was rough and coarse and nicely fatty. The four preparations each distinctively different from the other without dwarfing the cured pork flavor of the meat. The pickled grapes? Really interesting -- little grape explosions in the mouth. We shared a "Caesar" -- romaine leaves with Vella dry jack and boccorones, or sardines. Robert had Seared Day Boat Scallops, Orzo Stuffed Squash Blossoms, Fennel Pollen, Backyard Tomatoes and Herbs. I had the Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Little Point Reyes Blue Cheese Ravioli, Ruby Chard. We ended with a house-made Chocolate Gelato with Scharfenberger Chocolate Sauce. I love cooking like this. Using local ingredients (as close as the kitchen garden); earthy and big in flavor and style. Somehow the food is exactly what should be served in the middle of wine country. European country cooking without being in Europe.

Bovolo was as good. The menu more simplified. The menu cover says 'Pizza, Gelato, Salumi.' They refer to the food as 'Slow Food... Fast.' Note the snail on their sign. I ate the World Famous Pork Cheek Sandwich with Roasted Peppers, Salsa Verde. The picture explains it better than I can. I'm still at a loss for words weeks later. The sandwich was served hot; the pork, the peppers and salsa verde all melded together into one crazily delicious taste sensation. These cooks know what they're doing. I also had the White Bean Salad -- spinach leaves, white beans, red onion in a green goddess-type dressing. Robert had the Farfalline Pasta Carbonara, Housemade Bacon, Farm Egg, Parmesan. It was the perfect wine country lunch. We'd spent an hour or so wandering around Healdsburg's town square and finished up sitting in Bovolo's garden eating this food. Napa Valley? Never heard of it.

The rest of the vacation wasn't quite as food-filled as described above. We had our moments of swimming and kayaking on the Russian River; bicycling around Gureneville, and just relaxing. But there is one other food related experience I do want to share. Guerneville, a very small resort town, happens to have a used bookstore. We were at the coffee place next door one day and wandered in. I asked the owner if he had any cookbooks and boy did he. Several shelves full and more coming. A local man who had a huge cookbook collection had died recently; the store owner bought the whole collection at the estate sale. I snatched these books up: 'Craig Claiborne's Kitchen Primer,' 'Beard on Pasta,' 'Food In Good Season' by Betty Fussell, 'James Beard's Treasury of Outdoor Cooking,' and probably my favorite 'La Cuisine de France - The Modern French Cookbook' by Mapie, the Countess de Toulouse-Lautrec! It's over 700 pages long. The copyright is 1964. She was only three years after Julia and 'Mastering The Art of French Cooking'. It's written in English; each recipe has the title in both English and French.

And I'm still not sure if there's any connection to the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec but there must be. I haven't had time to read through it yet. I'll report back. I couldn't leave without this book. The crowning moment in the used bookstore came when I noticed that the owner had a copy of 'Mastering The Art of French Cooking - Volume One' on a shelf behind the register. I asked about it. He said he hadn't had time yet to inventory, price and shelve it; he pulled it out and put it down on the counter in front of me. I opened it: there on the title page were three signatures, Julia Child, Simone Beck and Paul Child. The book was in pristine condition. He was asking $2,000 for it. I left without it. So that's it for my Sonoma County based food adventures for the moment. It's a magical place and I love it there. I can't wait to go again next year. Or sooner even.

In This Post: Zazu Restaurant & Farm, Bovolo, Black Pig Meat Co., Pure Country Pork

My Status: trying to get back on track after a wonderful vacation. More cooking, eating, dining out, writing and blogging. Thinking ahead to cooler fall weather and praying that the fires in Los Angeles end soon, and that there are not more of them.

Upcoming Posts: 'gleaning,' or the act of gathering public produce, or leftover farmer's market produce, and giving it to the poor, needy and hungry. A history of the movement, and those that are involved with it. Reviews: 'The Berghoff Cafe Cookbook' and 'Cooking Light,' a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine.

Recipes from the Languedoc

Fourth of July weekend is the 'official-official' start of summer for a lot of Americans. Memorial Day sneaks up and, if you live on the East Coast, always seems to be either still wet, cold or both. The fourth is far enough into the summer to actually be summer. So let the summer eating and celebrating begin. Now it's really time to fire up the grill and to eat outdoors.

As promised in the last post, here are two recipes from our 'Menu for a Friday Evening at Soustres'; these spare ribs are a perfect summer dish. And there's nothing wrong with making a printanier of summer vegetables to go with them. The spare ribs, or coustillous, are part of the meat for the mixed grill we ate in France. They can be eaten alone, or you may do as we did and add chicken and sausage. The coustillous recipe is provided by Anne de Ravel of Saveur Languedoc and can also be found on her blog and website. The recipe includes harissa, a wonderful hot chili sauce of North African origins that I adore. It is the go-to hot sauce for the French, and quite different from most other hot sauces I have tasted. If you can locate some, you should give it a try. Most specialty food stores should carry it. If you are really adventurous, make a batch yourself! (Try a Google search for a recipe.)

Spare Ribs, or Coustillous

Provided by Anne de Ravel, Saveur Languedoc

Serves 6

Preparation time - 2-1/2 hours

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white wine
  
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 4 scallions, green and white part, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp. cilantro, minced
• 3 Tbsp. lemon balm, minced, or 1 stalk lemon grass, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped coarsely
• 1-2 tsp. harissa paste, or to taste (see note)
• 3 Lbs. slab spare ribs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a mixing bowl. Wisk together. Place the spare ribs in a shallow glass baking dish. Pour the marinade over the meat, and turn to coat all sides evenly. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

When to ready to cook, preheat grill to medium hot, or check to be sure coals on a barbecue are medium hot (coals white in color). Remove the ribs from the refigerator, uncover and shake each piece gently to allow excess liquid to drain off. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, depending on thickness of the ribs. They should be fully cooked yet still juicy. Remove from the grill, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: harissa is a Morrocan chili paste made from hot peppers and spices. If unavailable, you may use your favorite hot sauce to taste.

Printanier of Artichokes, Fava Beans and Peas

A printanier is a braise of vegetables. The vegetables used can vary; the one we made in France included artichokes, fava beans and peas. This was due in part to the fact that these vegetables were in abundant supply at the open air market when we went shopping for our meal. Artichoke season is just ending so be careful when buying fresh artichokes. The recipe can easily be altered using other seasonally available vegetables.

Adapted from 'Mastering The Art of French Cooking'

Serves 6 to 8

Preparation time - 2 to 2-1/2 hours

Ingredients

• 6 large artichokes
• 1 1/2 lbs. of fresh peas
• 2 lbs. of fava beans
• 1 cup diced onions
  
• 6 Tbsp. of olive oil
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Fresh herbs; thyme, rosemary, or parsely, chopped fine
  
• Chives, chopped
  
• Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Rinse the artichokes. You will only be using the hearts of the plant; using a sharp knife cut 3/4 of an inch off the leaves thus removing the sharp stickers from the tips. Peel away most of the outer leaves until you expose the inner white parts. Cut the stem off completely at the base then cut each artichoke in half. Remove the fuzzy parts at the center with a knife. Peel down any remaining leaves. The goal is to end of up with the hard inner part, the heart, only. Cut the halves into about three lengthwise pieces each (see photo for size needed). Put all the pieces into a bowl with lemon juice and water. The acid keeps the artichokes from turning brown. Set aside.

Remove the fava beans from their outer pod. Blanch the beans in boiling water for a few minutes. Rinse with cold water, once cool enough to handle remove the peas from their outer shell by slitting the skin with a knife, or your finger nail, and gently squeezing the bean out. Set aside.

Shell the peas and set aside.

Using a large casserole, cook the onions slowly for 5 minutes in the olive oil without letting them color. Stir in the garlic. Arrange the artichokes in the casserole and baste with the onions and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the casserole and cook slowly for 10 minutes not allowing the artichokes to brown.

Pour in the vinegar and wine. Raise heat and boil until liquid is reduced by half. Next pour in the water. Add the herbs. Bring to a simmer. Cover the casserole and place in the middle of a preheated oven. Casserole should simmer for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours, or until liquid has almost entirely evaporated. To prevent over cooking, half way through the baking process add the fava beans and peas to the casserole and stir gently together. Before removing from the oven poke an artichoke with a knife; it should give easily. If it doesn't let bake a little longer.

Before serving sprinkle the dish with the chopped chives.

Happy 4th and bon appétit!

My Status: home, blogging, cooking, missing Paris, eating, blogging, missing the Languedoc, dreaming of Barcelona... (yes, still!)

Upcoming Posts: Spain: yes, finally blog posts about Spain. The Wedge Salad: a recipe, the origins of the salad and of Iceberg lettuce. Review: 'The Barcelona Cookbook'.

A Menu for Earth Day

Earth Day is today, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. In celebration of the day Martine Marcus and Judy Mancini of Burden Free Foods created a special menu using ingredients that come from within 100 miles of their home-base, Morristown, New Jersey.

Earth Day Menu

• Local, Organic Squash & Apple Potage
• New Jersey Free-Range, Organic Chicken Soup with Local Potato Dumplings
• Local Herbed Polenta Toast with Sautéed Pennsylvania Mushrooms and New Jersey Aged Gouda Cheese
• Salad of Local Greens Drizzled with Local Honey Vinaigrette
• Apple, Blueberry, Maple Compote Over Local Cornmeal Pound Cake

These dishes are available today and tomorrow at Drip Coffee, 5 Hilltop Rd., Mendham, New Jersey, 973-543-3747. For those of you who don’t live in the Mendham area see the recipe below for Herbed Polenta Toast.

Local Living

‘Living Life Locally’ is a motto that more and more of us seem to be embracing. Since I decided to start this blog I have noticed an explosion of activity having to do with local, sustainable, organic living. There seems to be a real movement afoot. It’s not only due to the current economic malaise; it’s also about our changing climate, and our diminishing natural resources. The numbers of individuals, groups, farmers, foodies, restaurateurs, bloggers, writers and entrepreneurs embracing the local life are increasing daily. It’s our version of the 60s ideal of ‘living off the land.’

Earth Day

Earth Day actually dates back to April 22, 1969 – the date of the first Earth Day celebration. It was inspired by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson who announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. April 22, 1970 marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement with the goal of a healthy, sustainable environment. Thirty-nine years later the movement is still going strong, and is needed now more than ever.

100-Mile Radius

As mentioned in a previous post, the idea for 100 Miles came about because of my friend, Martine Marcus. To the very best of her ability she lives her life locally only buying food produced within a 100-mile radius of her Morristown, New Jersey home. Her company, Burden Free Foods, cooks with organic ingredients and specializes in food that is locally sourced. They also have a dedicated gluten-free kitchen and make many gluten-free items. Martine and her business partner, Judy Mancini, create weekly menus for local residents too busy to cook. Their dishes are available at a small, local chain of coffee houses, Drip Coffee. They supply two of the chain’s stores with sandwiches, soups, salads, meals-to-go and baked goods. They also serve their community from early summer to late fall at the Morristown Farmer’s Market by creating original dishes using the market’s bounty. Dishes that can be taken home to eat later, or eaten on the spot. They also conduct on-site cooking demos using market ingredients.

Recipe - Herbed Polenta Toast with Sautéed Mushrooms

By Martine Marcus

In keeping with the living locally credo, try to source the below ingredients to within 1oo miles of your home base. It will be an educational and fun experiment.

Serves 4 to 6

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Polenta

• ½ cup coarse ground polenta
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 oz. grated hard cheese (aged gouda, Reggiano, etc.)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives, etc.)

Boil water with bay leaf, salt, pepper and olive oil. Gently stir in cornmeal, reduce to simmer. Cook 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese and herbs. Pour into a small, oiled loaf pan. Pack tightly. Chill for a minimum of one hour (overnight is ok!) Turn out of pan, slice polenta into ½ inch thick slices. Toast slices in oven for 7 minutes on each side.

Mushroom Mélange

• 4 cups assorted rough chopped mushrooms – we use oyster, white and Portobellos. If they need to be cleaned, just use a dry towel and lightly brush them
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ½ cup shredded hard cheese (aged gouda, Reggiano, etc.)
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chives, finely chopped

Put olive oil in hot heavy pan (I swear by my ‘Lodge’ cast iron skillet). Add garlic and chopped dry mushrooms. Add salt and pepper, shake pan while lightly browning mushrooms, cook until medium soft. Spoon mushrooms onto toasted polenta. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Spread a small handful of cheese over the mushrooms and sprinkle lightly with chives.

Bon appétit!

The Local Report – Sweets for the Soul

0.8 miles, about 3 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

I have been wanting to give a shout out to Sweets for the Soul for sometime now. Primarily because it’s one of those small, local businesses that you want to see succeed. And also because they sell brownies! Yummy, rich, gooey, chocolate brownies. By using Valrhona chocolate exclusively they up the delicious factor by 10.

The small company with an even smaller storefront on Glendale Blvd. in Los Angeles’ Atwater Village was started by Lilly LaBonge who gave up a demanding career in TV commercials and music videos to make brownies full-time. On offer are such items as Brownie Points, unctuous bite-sized rounds made with Valrhona cocoa and chocolate chips, Brownie Bliss, squares of chewy chocolate brownies made with unsweetened Valrhona chocolate and toasted pecans, Cocoa Bliss, heart-shaped brownies made with Valrhona cocoa and Valrhona chocolate, and last but not least, the Obama Brownie, made with Valrhona dark and white chocolate.

I have tried them all and they are all delicious. I like an intense chocolate flavor so my favorite is the Cocoa Bliss – double chocolate. For those readers who don’t live locally, Sweets for the Soul will send orders via Federal Express.

Purposely keeping the selection small while they start out, they will be adding new products over time. One of the upcoming items is Brownie Shards, the bits leftover in the pan after baking Brownie Points, to sprinkle on ice cream, freeze, or eat as sweet snack.

www.sweetsforthesoul.com

• Sweets for the Soul
• 3169 Glendale Blvd.
• Los Angeles, CA 90039
• 323-668-9338

The Cook’s Library

An appreciation.

Sadly, The Cook’s Library is closing. After twenty years in business owner Ellen Rose has decided to close. Citing the poor economy, the abundance of chain bookstores, as well as readers ongoing defection to the Internet, as reasons for her decision.

I wish I could say I was a regular visitor. I’ve been to the small shop on Los Angeles’s Third Street a handful of times during the various periods I’ve lived in Los Angeles -- and each time was a treat. A whole store devoted solely to cookbooks, and books related to food and cooking! For anyone interested in food it was a very special place. And even though I didn’t make it in as often as I’d have liked, just knowing it was there was a comfort. Ellen, and her helpful and knowledgeable staff, only added to the experience. They all have such a passion for cooking and cookbooks, and would help locate the most obscure titles. Or discuss a dish, a chef, a restaurant or anything else food-related. If they didn’t have whatever it was you wanted, they’d order it for you. But more than likely they’d have it in stock.

It was a place in which one could spend hours: browsing, reading, drooling, and I usually left with at least one new cookbook for my collection. Many a well-known chef – and the lesser-known too – have frequented the shop. Author book signings took place at the store often. A number of world renowned chefs and foodies have been by to sign their most recent books and cookbooks. Signings also happened at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sunday mornings. Several years ago I attended one with my friend Jeremiah Tower when his cookbook ‘Jeremiah Tower Cooks’ came out. It was an inspired place to hold a book signing. Right there amongst all the amazing fruit and vegetable stands, and those of us there to shop. This speaks to how the store was run and why it was so popular.

Another memory of an afternoon spent in the store was the day that my friend, Jill Foulston*, a book editor from London, and I hung out there for several hours. Jill is an inveterate foodie, we met at an amazing dinner in an Italian hill town, and we love to talk food. Earlier the same day we had spent a couple of hours lingering in the cookbook stacks of the Central branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in downtown Los Angeles (yes, the library has cookbook stacks!) After lunch at the fun and very hip, ‘The Restaurant’ at the downtown Standard Hotel we headed up to the Cook’s Library. By the time we left the store a few hours later she had a handful of books and I had one of my now favorite books - ‘Dinner at Miss Lady’s – Memories and Recipes from a Southern Childhood’ by Luann Landon. The book is about meals that the author’s grandmother, Miss Lady, prepared. I bought it as research for my own project about my great-grandmother, her home garden, and the meals that came out of it.

The shop is closing April 30 and is currently selling off it’s inventory. Robert and I went in last weekend. He’d never been and I wanted him to see it before it closed. All books were 20 % off. I bought a book that I didn’t have but that holds special memories for me: The Silver Palate Cookbook. When I first lived in New York City in 1982, the Silver Palate, a little food shop on the Upper West Side, was among the more popular gourmet food shops. I’d come from San Francisco’s Oakville Grocery to work in Dino de Laurentiis’ food emporium, DDL FoodShow, as a cheese buyer. The gourmet food industry was still fairly young, the community relatively small, the stand out stores at the time were Balducci’s, Zabar’s and Dean & Deluca but Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins’ tiny shop was different. They had well-prepared food, nicely displayed, in even nicer packaging. Geared towards take-out and catering, it was easy to stop by after work to grab dinner, or on the weekend to pick up food for a picnic. Their book, published in 1982, was full of all of the dishes everyone grew to love. I now have the 25th Anniversary Edition on my shelf thanks to the Cook’s Library.

If you love food, and cookbooks, and have yet to visit the Cook’s Library hurry over to see what they have left before the doors are locked for good on April 30th.

*Jill has edited: ‘The Joy of Eating: The Virago Book of Food,’ and ‘The Virago Book of the Joy of Shopping.’

www.cookslibrary.com

The Cook’s Library
8373 W. Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323-655-3141

The Local Report - Locali

3.7 miles, about 8 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

Another ‘local’ find is Locali Conscious Convenience – a sort of ‘green,’ organic convenience store, or, as they call themselves on their website, ‘your sustainable neighborhood market’. Several blog postings and articles already written have called it ‘a 7-11 for hippies’ and ‘a small-format, hybrid grocery and convenience store’. The reference to 7-11 was something that came to mind as Robert and I visited the store this past weekend. It felt like a ‘green’ 7-11. An idea that appeals. I immediately had visions of more of these stores on neighborhood corners around the country. I believe that is the intention of husband and wife owners, Greg Horos and Melissa Rosen.

Here is a description from Locali’s Facebook page: ‘Locali was constructed in an environmentally sound manner and serves local, organic, natural and most importantly, delicious food and beverages. The market seeks to make healthy eating and eco-friendly necessities easily accessible to those on the go. Roughly translated from Italian, locali means "community".

It’s a bold idea that I hope succeeds. The shop on Hollywood’s' Franklin Avenue is in a small strip mall, a block away from a Gelson’s grocery store. The tiny space is chock full of green, organic, sustainable items. Once inside the store the feeling I had was much like entering a 7-11 – that of sensory overload. But not in the way I experience a 7-11 which is a desire to get in and out as fast as possible. After we ordered sandwiches I perused the shelves. In the back a freezer contained pre-packaged, frozen, organic chicken and beef selections amongst other frozen grocery and food items – easy to grab on the drive home from work. Prepackaged sandwiches, salads, bottled drinks and other grab-and-go items sat in a refrigerated case along one wall. Other shelves held other convenience store standbys: energy efficient light bulbs, alternative shampoos and toothpastes, as well as energy-saver kits. Near the front window was a small collection of organic wine, beer and sake.

At the main counter you can order off a menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner items including seasonal, organic tamales from La Guera Tamalera, and Haute Dogs on Multigrain Buns – grass-fed beef hotdogs from Let’s Be Frank. Other convenience store-style items include low glycemic sno-cones; slushies made from agave sweetened, ginger infused, fruit juice; fair trade, organic coffee from The Coffee Cellar; as well as natural and locally made bakery items. They will also make menu items vegan and gluten-free. The sandwich menu states that their deli meats come from Applegate Farms and are antibiotic, hormone, gluten and casein free.

When our sandwiches were done – a Franklin Phenomenon (turkey, Monterey jack, spinach, tomato, red onion, and chipotle sauce served hot on pretzel bread) for me ($8.95) and a Peaceful Warrior (turkey, red onion, arugula, red pepper, mango chutney, curry spread on pretzel bread) for Robert ($8.95) – I grabbed a bag of Boulder Canyon Kettle Cooked Potato Chips ($1.29) and went to the grab-and-go case for a bottle of water. I have to admit that I was flummoxed by the offerings. I didn’t see any plastic in the case. I had to ask the person at the counter where the water was and he pointed to a row of glass bottles. I sheepishly grabbed a bottle of Mountain Valley Spring Water – a lovely green, glass bottle ($1.59). I quickly realized that I needed to break my plastic habit while fully appreciating that there were no plastic bottles for sale. Green and sustainable just like they claim.

As I absorbed all of this I found myself wishing there was a Locali on a corner near my Atwater Village condo – if there was I’d be in it all the time. And just think how much thinner and healthier the citizens of our country might be if there was one Locali for every 7-11 type convenience store already in existence across the country. One can dream.

www.localiyours.com

Follow on Twitter: locali

Locali
5825 Franklin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-466-1360

The Local Report - Delilah Bakery

5.1 miles, about 10 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

A few weeks back Robert, in his travels on the Internet, saw a write up about cupcakes in the Los Angeles Times. In the piece it mentioned Delilah Bakery located in Echo Park – very near to us. So Robert and I along with our friend Vladimir ventured over to check it out – cupcakes being the draw. Delilah Bakery is located on Echo Park Ave. where it becomes a canyon, before leading up and over a hill towards the 2 and 5 freeways. It’s a charming if slightly Bohemian neighborhood full of creative types; artists, writers, actors. Several years back a friend and I went to a gallery crawl on the block down from Delilah. The few art galleries along the block stayed open one night, offering wine, cheese and art for sale. We roamed between the galleries, drinking wine and admiring (or not) the art. A fun evening in a funky neighborhood.

Delilah offers all manner of baked goods including cupcakes, cakes, pies, cookies, bars, muffins and bread. The storefront is small and feels like a bakery more than a café although they do offer a selection of lunch items – fresh-made sandwiches, salads, quiches, homemade potato chips. There are tables outside on the sidewalk and adjacent small brick patio where you can sit and enjoy the offerings. Standing at the counter you readily see the commercial ovens, mixers and other paraphernalia of a professional bakery.

We ordered sandwiches, coffees and two cupcakes and sat outside in the sun to eat them. I was impressed with the way they made a regular coffee. It wasn't already brewed sitting in one of those large holding tanks that most coffee places use. The young woman behind the counter made each cup fresh by putting a coffee filter into a basket, adding fresh grounds and running boiling water through them. It made for a very different tasting coffee. The way coffee should taste. The way it tastes at home when properly made. Not too hot nor bitter the way Starbuck's coffee always tastes. The sandwiches, made on Delilah bread, were simple but tasty. The cupcakes – one German chocolate and one red velvet were the perfect ending to our meal.

As the Los Angeles Times piece mentions, the bakery sells to other establishments such as Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Silver Lake. They also offer catering. The shop’s website implies that the owner, Genevieve Ostrander, is from the South. That might explain Bundt cakes with names like Coca Cola Cake and 7-Up Cake; as well as cupcakes like Chocolate with Jack Daniel’s Frosting, and the Pecan Bourbon, and Pumpkin Bourbon pies.

Whatever the influence may be, she has a good thing going. Next time I plan to try the Chocolate with Smore Frosting cupcakes and maybe a piece of the Tollhouse Cookie pie.

Delilah Bakery
1665 Echo Park Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213-975-9400

www.delilahbakery.com

Photo Credit: Vladimir Ballesteros-Moreno

Peck di Milano

The very best food windows in the world are at Peck in Milan, Italy. Better than Dean & DeLuca, and Balducci's in New York. Better than Harrods Food Hall, and Fortnum & Mason in London. Better than Fauchon and Hédiard in Paris. The first time I stood before a Peck window was in the early 80s. I stood for a full half-hour looking and studying. I was on a buying trip for a new job I was starting in New York: helping Dino de Laurentiis open his short-lived DDL Foodshow on the Upper West Side. We had been to the Périgord in France and eaten an all foie gras lunch at the Petrossian factory (a chateau cum factory). We had toured all the wonderful food shops in Paris and London. But Peck was a revealation.

An Italian friend, Paolo, was recently in Milan for the Christmas holiday. He took the picture attached here: a Peck Christmas window, and seeing it reminded me of my visit to the store. Prior to going on the three week food tour of Europe, I had been the cheese manager at Oakville Grocery, a gourmet food shop in San Francisco, where I designed the cheese display. I already had a bit of experience at artfully moving huge wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano and English cheddar into a position that would appeal to the buyer's eye, and stomach. But my work was nothing compared to the cheese window at Peck.

They seemed to grasp the idea of scale, texture, and color perfectly. The window was large and deep. It was piled high with all manner of cheese; they literally came cascading down and forward to the street. There were wheels of reggiano, asiago, and pecorino one atop the other, multiple hanging scamorze, provolone, and buffala mozzerelle in wooden containers of water. The effect was big and bold. It drew me in. I wanted to be in the middle of all that cheese. I went from window to window along the via Spadari looking at the other Peck windows; the salumeria full of all types of cured meats: salami, hams, speck; the gourmet window full of every type of olive oil, jam, jelly, and pasta sauce, again stacked high and full. Little empty space. No fancy cloth, or decoarations. Just the food.

The Peck windows I saw were about the food more than window dressing. The boldness of scale pulled me into the middle and made me want to eat. At the other shops I saw in Paris and London the displays were beautiful, the food pristine and perfect, but they didn't make me want to climb into the middle with knife and fork and start to eat. The Peck windows had this effect. The most beautiful food windows in the world.

Photo credit: Paolo Sacca