A-Frame, a sign of the times
In the early 90s, I read a review of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, a tell-all, behind-the-scenes look at life in a restaurant kitchen, and immediately bought the book. It is a graphic, profane tale of what goes on behind the swinging doors of high-end restaurants. What I'd been experiencing during my own professional cooking career was being discussed and verified in vivid black and white.
Bad boy chefs are now the rage—cursing, throwing things, and berating the staff, right there on your family TV. Chefs behaved like that in the 80s and 90s, and have probably since roadside inns began serving food to travelers in the 16th century. When I was growing up in the Midwest, restaurants were family-owned places that served the locals, nation-wide chains like Denny's or IHOP, taverns that offered bar food along with tap beer, or drive-ins. My how things have changed.
In 1982, Wolfgang Puck left Ma Maison, opened Spago on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, and introduced diners to gourmet pizzas, spit-roasted game, artisan cheese, and baby vegetables. Along with his inventive menus came fresh flowers on the tables, artwork on the walls, hip wait staffs, open kitchens, creative restaurant designs, and of course, higher prices. Today, Wolfgang Puck is an industry selling frozen dinners, cookware, clothing, and airport food. Spago was the first of a long list of expensive, A-list, Los Angeles eateries serving fusion food, ethnic dishes, California and novelle cuisine with hard-to-get reservations.
The baton has been passed to a new breed of restaurant chefs who are once again bringing innovation into the restaurant world. David Chang turns away customers who line up every night to eat fried chicken, kimchi burritos, or pulled pork buns at one of his four New York eateries. In 2009, Roy Choi and Mark Manguera started selling Korean sliders, spicy pork tacos, and kimchi quesadillas from their food truck, Kogi, and started a nationwide craze. Last year the not to be missed venues in LA were flash mob restaurants that popped up one night and were gone the next. The new breed of restaurants is heavily dependent on social media—Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr—to keep the hungry mobs informed as where to queue up.
The new restaurant paradigm seems to be casual, no boundaries, calorie-packed food that everyone loves to eat. When Bob and I were in Los Angeles last month, my only must-eat place was Roy Choi's A-Frame, a renovated International House of Pancakes site on Washington Boulevard in Culver City. We got there at five minutes before the 5:00 opening, and by the time we left at 6:00 it was packed. The menu shows no sign of Mrs. Obama's push toward healthy eating. We ordered the-best-beercan chicken-I-ever-ate, sweet potato fries with garlic aioli, shrimp tempura with dipping sauce, roasted lamb, and finished (believe it or not) with pound cake cinnamon churros, malted chocolate milk and vanilla ice cream. We consumed the calorie intake of a hockey team but left with big smiles on our faces. This dinner was not cheap, but neither was it a gasper. The experience was high on expectations, low on pretension, and very satisfying.
A-Frame
Outdoor patio
Dining room
Shrimp tempura
Cinnamon churros with malted milk and ice cream
Bad boy chefs are now the rage—cursing, throwing things, and berating the staff, right there on your family TV. Chefs behaved like that in the 80s and 90s, and have probably since roadside inns began serving food to travelers in the 16th century. When I was growing up in the Midwest, restaurants were family-owned places that served the locals, nation-wide chains like Denny's or IHOP, taverns that offered bar food along with tap beer, or drive-ins. My how things have changed.
In 1982, Wolfgang Puck left Ma Maison, opened Spago on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, and introduced diners to gourmet pizzas, spit-roasted game, artisan cheese, and baby vegetables. Along with his inventive menus came fresh flowers on the tables, artwork on the walls, hip wait staffs, open kitchens, creative restaurant designs, and of course, higher prices. Today, Wolfgang Puck is an industry selling frozen dinners, cookware, clothing, and airport food. Spago was the first of a long list of expensive, A-list, Los Angeles eateries serving fusion food, ethnic dishes, California and novelle cuisine with hard-to-get reservations.
The baton has been passed to a new breed of restaurant chefs who are once again bringing innovation into the restaurant world. David Chang turns away customers who line up every night to eat fried chicken, kimchi burritos, or pulled pork buns at one of his four New York eateries. In 2009, Roy Choi and Mark Manguera started selling Korean sliders, spicy pork tacos, and kimchi quesadillas from their food truck, Kogi, and started a nationwide craze. Last year the not to be missed venues in LA were flash mob restaurants that popped up one night and were gone the next. The new breed of restaurants is heavily dependent on social media—Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr—to keep the hungry mobs informed as where to queue up.
The new restaurant paradigm seems to be casual, no boundaries, calorie-packed food that everyone loves to eat. When Bob and I were in Los Angeles last month, my only must-eat place was Roy Choi's A-Frame, a renovated International House of Pancakes site on Washington Boulevard in Culver City. We got there at five minutes before the 5:00 opening, and by the time we left at 6:00 it was packed. The menu shows no sign of Mrs. Obama's push toward healthy eating. We ordered the-best-beercan chicken-I-ever-ate, sweet potato fries with garlic aioli, shrimp tempura with dipping sauce, roasted lamb, and finished (believe it or not) with pound cake cinnamon churros, malted chocolate milk and vanilla ice cream. We consumed the calorie intake of a hockey team but left with big smiles on our faces. This dinner was not cheap, but neither was it a gasper. The experience was high on expectations, low on pretension, and very satisfying.
A-Frame
Outdoor patio
Dining room
Shrimp tempura
Cinnamon churros with malted milk and ice cream
Posted by Marla Nichols at 12/5/2011 12:01 PM 
Categories: Restaurant
Tags: David Chang Roy Choi Wolfgang Puck Los Angeles restaurants A-Frame Anthony Bourdain Kogi
Categories: Restaurant
Tags: David Chang Roy Choi Wolfgang Puck Los Angeles restaurants A-Frame Anthony Bourdain Kogi
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