Jim and I recently went to Los Angeles to take our grandnephew back to the mainland on his way back to Oklahoma. There is no shortage of restaurants in the L.A. area, and since we had a couple of days in Los Angeles, we opted for Italian and French dinners.
Jim and I recently went to Los Angeles to take our grandnephew back to the mainland on his way back to Oklahoma. There is no shortage of restaurants in the L.A. area, and since we had a couple of days in Los Angeles, we opted for Italian and French dinners.
Hermosa Pier was crowded with walkers, bicyclists, joggers and skateboarders. Most of those on their feet were walking their dogs. It is just what you imagine Southern California to be. Along Pier Street, there was an array of shops and restaurants. Coming from Hilo, with its few Italian restaurants to choose from, we decided to go Buona Vita Trattoria at 439 Pier Ave.
All dressings for the insalade, or salad, were made in-house. The Caesar dressing was so California, light and heavy on lemon flavors.
The antipasti, or pupu, of calamari fritte was served with marinara and chipotle sauce; the carpaccio consisted of all-grass fed beef tenderloin with arugula, shaved Parmigiana-Reggiano, whole grain mustard and honey sauce. The seafood risotto was made with scallops, mussels, clams, shrimp, mushrooms, asparagus, blue cheese and saffron. The seared scallops were served with artichoke hearts and celery root puree with a chipotle truffle oil cream sauce. The wild boar ragu is cooked for 10 hours and served over papperdelle pasta. The angel hair crab arrabiatta consisted of jumbo crab meat, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, fresh jalapenos and extra-virgin olive oil served over angel hair pasta.
Those who have dined with me know I love eggplant parmesan, and Buona Vita’s melanzana alla parmigiana is made of grilled fresh eggplant, marinara (their marinara is a rich, dark and thick sauce), mozzarella, Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese over spaghetti. There is no doubt if our friend, Jack, was with us, he would have ordered the di argosta ravioli, which were black and white (black from squid ink) and lobster ravioli in a saffron cream sauce. Shrimp diablo was shrimp with spicy marinara and fresh mozzarella, served over papperdelle pasta.
So, what does diablo mean anyway? It is a sauce with some kind of chili peppers to give it some heat. It is thought that it was named for Michele Pezza, or ‘Fra Diablo’ or Friar Devil, who helped push Napoleon’s forces out of Naples.
Shrimp Diablo
Serves: 4
1/4 cup olive oil
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1 pinch ground black pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir shallot and garlic in hot oil until tender, about five minutes. Do not burn the garlic, it will become bitter. Add red pepper flakes, cook and stir for one minute. Stir in fire-roasted tomatoes and tomato paste into the shallot mixture.
Thin the sauce by stirring white wine into the mixture, cook and stir until sauce becomes thick and bubbly, about five minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low.
Add shrimp to the sauce, cook just until the shrimp turns pink and is cooked through, about five minutes. Season with parsley, basil and black pepper.
• • •
We searched Google for a French restaurant and decided to go to the Original Farmers’ Market to eat, sidewalk bistro style, at Monsieur Marcel French Restaurant. French onion soup was one of the soups on the menu, as well as soupe de jour. We ordered the roasted artichokes for our amuse bouche. I have not see many artichokes in our markets here at home, so the artichokes tasted so good with a remoulade sauce. Escargot and foie gras were some of the other appetizer selections.
A daily special included Mediterranean fish stew, which is what Jim ordered. I ordered the mussel mariniere, which is mussels cooked with white wine, garlic, sliced onions and celery. It was reminiscent of eating mussels in Paris.
Monsieur Marcel has a gourmet store next door to its cafe and it is certainly a culinary delight. There are cheeses, confection, wines, spirits and food items from France.
Small bites
Remoulade sauce is a classic sauce. If it sounds familiar, it is used in Cajun cooking, often served with crab cakes or as a dressing in po’boy sandwiches.
Remoulade Sauce
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup Creole mustard
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon pickle juice, dill or sweet pickle juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 large clove garlic, minced and smashed
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
• • •
Los Angeles is a difficult city to drive in, especially coming from Hilo. We used Uber and met some of the nicest people, all working part time to supplement their income.
Two of the drivers were students, one getting an MBA, another wanting to go to medical school; a couple of the guys owned their own business.
Virginia drove part-time so she can go back to New Orleans to volunteer to build homes (many homes are still not built 11 years after Hurricane Katrina), and we met another who was an accountant at a used car dealership.
Email me at audreywilson808@gmail.com.