Lunch al fresco

La Crescenta, November 4, 2012—

LUNCH AT THE HOME of a couple of friends today, a friendship going back thirty years to early days at Chez Panisse. They've long since moved to southern California, but we forgive them since they're still in the business — on the supply side, farming and baking. We had a plate of sliced cheese and salumi, a delicious tossed salad, and a beet salad I actually liked — even though in principle I loathe the chthonic beet. These were roasted, peeled, sliced, and marinated in a delicious vinaigrette along with a few carrots treated similarly, and a fair amount of torn mint leaves were involved as well. Delicious.

Quincy, Laporte "Les Niorles," 2010: true to type, crisp, refreshing

Tapas, sort of

North Hollywood, November 3, 2012—

A LIGHT MIDDAY SUPPER today, since we have two plays to take in before bedtime. The lady in the box office recommended this place, calling it a tapas place. Not quite, but I see what she means.

My green salad was huge and tasty: chopped frisée and arugula, cotija and Mahon, pasilla and pepitas, and plenty of salt. Afterward, their version of a grilled ham and cheese: Mahon again — I do like that cheese — with ham, of course, and pickled jalapeños, on a toasted baguette, with beet and yam chips on the side. Crème catalan for dessert.

Sangria, then a Lustau oloroso

• Bow and Truss, 11122 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood; 818-985-8787

Salad and soup

Pasadena, November 2, 2012—

WE RATHER LIKED this place last time we came, and it's just re-opened after a three-month renovation, so we thought it would be fun to check it out again. The menu's changed: a few "small plates" have been added, and a new wood-fired oven makes pizzette and Alsatian tarts possible.

I started with a revisionist Caesar salad (a term I find myself typing increasingly often), the romaine chopped, the anchovies white boquerones, and including artichoke hearts — good, but no Caesar, not in my book. And then this curious "Wedding Soup" which seemed somehow Polish to me: a nicely executed velouté with generous chunks of white sausage, bits of red pepper and tomato, black kale, and an egg whisked in — something new to me, and very pleasant. Dessert: a truly revisionist Tarte Tatin, baked in an individual cocotte, with vanilla ice cream and salt-caramel sauce.

Verdejo, Medino del Campo, Valiadolid (Spain), 2010; Sangiovese, Mazzoni "Rosso," Tuscany, 2009

• Bisro 45, 45 South Mentor Avenue, Pasadena; (626) 795-2478

An old favorite

Los Angeles, November 1, 2012—

NO PHOTO TONIGHT: it was just too dark, and I can't bring myself to use a flash in a restaurant — it's bad enough to be taking pictures. And it's too bad, too, because the dinner was fairly photogenic, though it tasted even better than it looked.

This was the first and remains, I think, the flagship restaurant of Suzanne Goin, whose credits include three of my favorite restaurants: Al Forno in Providence, the now lamented Campanile which we helped close last night here in Los Angeles, and Chez Panisse. Lucques has been joined by two other Goin rests, AOC — which I like though it is small plates, a format I find not entirely to my taste — and Tavern, which we haven't yet visited.

I started tonight with a revisionist Caesar salad: lettuces with anchovy dressing, torn croutons, parmesan and sieved egg. And then on to the kind of main course I really love: braised beef short ribs with swiss chard, roasted cippolini and horseradish cream — not English, not French, not really Italian though leaning in that direction except, perhaps, for the horseradish. In any case, a fine substantial dish.

The chocolate tart with mascarpone and pistachios was very pretty to see and full of flavor but the pastry tasted a bit of the refrigerator, I thought; a small flaw in an otherwise first-rate dinner. Oh well.

An interesting list here, though not given to inexpensive bottles. We had a delicious dry Vouvray, Pierre et Catherine Breton "La Dilettante," 2009; and then with my beef I had a glass of good sound Syrah.

• Lucques, 8474 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, California; 323-655-6277

Shutting down

Los Angeles, October 31, 2012—

MIXED EMOTIONS TIME: the closing of a restaurant we've enjoyed for years, owned and run by a man we respect. Mark Peel was surprised when we turned up at the closing-night party. In fact, he didn't recognize us: we were masked like all the guests at this open-bar party. It was a nice party: I talked to Craig, who thinks LA is a fine place, and who is into fashion; and to Antonio Palma, from Nuoro, who is trying to come to terms with the English language, and to a few others, and ate my fill of canapés: what we used to call lunch meat, and bocadillos, and tapas, and cicchetti, and so on — pickled green beans, little slices of bread, cubes of cheese, mortadella, salami, little meat balls, pieces of fruit…

a Martini; rosé: Something Moon (Provence), 2011; sparkling Vouvray

• Campanile, 624 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles

Salmon chez Panisse

Berkeley, October 30, 2012—

WHAT YOU SEE HERE is an aerial view of the last two bites of lunch. Well, maybe three. Four, in fact, because it took a couple of bites of bread to sop up the very last of the sauce.

I'd begun with a nice salad: young rocket leaves with shavings of sunchoke and prosciutto, in a very good light savory vinaigrette, strewn with rosemary leaves. And very judiciously salted, with good salt.

But it was the main course — this was dinner masquerading as a late lunch — that lingers with me: King salmon, poached, in a beurre rouge with delicate cauliflower flowerets, romanesco, and broccoli, and lots of capers. Beurre rouge: we all know a beurre blanc, of course; and I dearly love a beurre noisette, where you let the butter brown a bit while stirring. This tasted very lightly of red wine. I don't know how it's made. I could Google it, I suppose, but I have a lot to do and I'm up at five tomorrow.

Dessert: a fine Bartlett pear, Barhi dates, a couple of black figs.

Godello, A Coroa, Valdeorras (Spain); 2011: full, present, fruit, dry, balanced

• Café Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California; 510.548.5525

Two Oakland Restaurants

Oakland, California, October 28, 2012—

AT DINNER TONIGHT it occurred to me this wasn't California cuisine; neither was lunch today, when we had the lamb ragù so badly photographed below. These are East Bay restaurants, well in the wake of Chez Panisse, characterized by thoughtful menus, excellent ingredients, solid execution.

For all that, the roast pork at the left here, with its sauerkraut, instantly rang a bell: it took me back to Bofinger in Paris, where I had exactly the same plate — one of the Hundred, by the way — but in a less cozy setting, and with much snootier service, and a considerably higher price. Well, not completely exactly; Bofinger would never have placed those rosemary needles on the meat; and fingerling potatoes are more a California thing than a French one, seems to me. Whatever: This was a delicious entrée, preceded by a good mixed green salad with figs, almonds, and fromage blanc. I enjoyed it.

Zöld Veltlini (Veltliner), Mátyás & Zoltan Szoke (Màtra, Hungary), 2011 (dry, stern, a good match to the pork)

• A Coté Restaurant, 5478 College Avenue, Oakland; 510.655.6469Earlier in the day we'd had a festive brunch with three other couples — good friends and family, all gathered to see Einstein on the Beach in Berkeley afterward. I knew I'd have a big dinner, but a nearly-five-hour avant-garde opera demands stamina, and stamina requires nourishment. I opted for this lamb ragù, beautifully slow-cooked on an open hearth in the style of this fine restaurant (one of the Hundred), delicious red-lentil mash, bitter greens and crème fraîche on the side, a poached egg on top — a fine plate. Warmed up with Tequila, tomato, lime, and chile powder.

Pfneiszl Kékfrankos (Hungary), 2010: deep and serious

• Camino, 3917 Grand Avenue, Oakland; 510-547-5035