Campanile; Bar Celona

Glendale, May 3—

FOR YEARS WE'VE PLAYED with the idea of The Hundred Plates: the hundred best, most fundamentally necessary dishes. They don't have to be the hundred most essential foods, of course; you won't find Bread on the list, or Coffee, though life without either of those, even a single day without either, is unimaginable. No: what we mean is the list of those things which, when you're eating them, you suddenly realize belong among basic repertory.

This morning we had brunch at Campanile down on La Brea Avenue. It's by way of a tradition with us by now, Sunday brunch there when we're in town seeing plays. And my order's a tradition, too: a Bloody Mary to start; then a Frisée aux lardons, frisée with bits of bacon, dressed with bacon fat and a wisp of vinegar, with a poached egg on top. Hereby it's nominated to The Hundred Plates.

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Supper was at Bar Celona in Pasadena, happily returned to its tapas concept after a brief irrational foray into Chinese-Indian food, we hear. It's one of my favorite tapas joints, one of the best outside Spain in my experience. We had patatas bravas and piquillos and hummus with flatbread and delicious little asparagus stalks, some chopped, others long, dressed with a bit of lemon juice. And we had chorizo and white bean stew. And for dessert we had three quite wonderful things: a crème Catalan, churros with chocolate sauce, and nice al dente rice pudding. I washed this down with a Martini; Lindsey had Albarina.

Campanile: 624 South La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; tel. 323.938.1447
Bar Celona: 46 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; tel. 626.405.1000