92262, Palm Springs

Vintage Porsche 356

Dear ——–,

The Cook family took its first vacation together this past weekend, packing the baby, the dog, our luggage, plus the baby’s swing and Pack n Play into the Mini Cooper. (We definitely needed the roof box.) We got a great deal on a room at the Riviera in Palm Springs thanks to Jetsetter. As we pulled in on Friday, we saw Porsche flags waving. What was that about? Turns out, there was some kind of rally for Porsche 356s — the first of the mass-produced Porsches — and we found them in all candy colors on the lawns the next morning.  To me, these cars pop right out of sun-drenched scenes in a Fellini film, driven by some Casanova scamp. The Riviera was an old Rat Pack hangout, so why not conjure up the Italian version? We ordered a little take-out from Trio and it was a good start to the weekend.

90012, Little Tokyo

Wish tree in Little Tokyo

Dear ——–,

I’ve barely been out of the house since our daughter was born, but Bryan and I decided that we should try hiring a babysitter for the first time and go out for dinner for our 5th anniversary. We started at the Spice Table, a restaurant with southeast Asian specialties and an owner that used to work at Mozza. I had to try the Hainanese chicken and laksa because I wondered what the gourmet version of these humble comfort foods would be like. They were pretty tasty — less greasy, more focused, with sharper flavors. They also soared with the wine flight that our waiter recommended. After dinner, we took a walk around Little Tokyo, stopping to listen to an outdoor karaoke session (?!). After gawking at some mochi in the Mikawaya, I decided to pick up some imagawayaki, biscuit-sized pancakes filled with sweet red bean paste, for dessert. We stopped to admire a tree frilled with wishes on slips of paper. There was only a subtle breeze, but I was hoping one of the slips of paper would blow off, on its way to being fulfilled.

90027, Hollywood

Two kinds of pizza at Mother Dough

Dear ——–,

We came to Hollywood tonight to join Erika and crew at the Moth, but bailed when we found out it was so full it was standing-room-only. (The guy at the door said that if we wanted a seat, we should get there next time at 6 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. start time.) There was no way I could stand for more than 15 minutes, so we decided to use our trip to Hollywood to go to Mother Dough. So what if we’d been here exactly a week before for the first time? Their blistered, neapolitan-style pizzas had left us drooling for more. (The chocolate mousse and poached pear desserts were also heavenly.) This time we tried to arugula-prosciutto and margherita pizzas. I could do with a little more San Marzano tomato sauce and a few more slices of buffalo mozzarella slices, but the crust had a perfect toothiness. (The name comes from the old world practice of using a little bit of yesterday’s dough  — the mother dough — to help get the leavening process started on the next batch.) I was also impressed by the Bundaberg ginger beer, which might challenge Thomas Kemper’s ginger ale as my favorite ginger carbonated beverage.

90021, Downtown Los Angeles

Inside Church & State

Dear ——–,

Leah and Neal know their way around restaurants, so when they suggested Church and State, we happily said yes. The bistro was in the National Biscuit Company building — whose title finally explained to us how the cookie company Nabisco got its name — in a warehouse-to-loft part of downtown. It was pretty noisy so we had a little trouble hearing each other, but maybe that was intentional on the part of the restauranteurs. The better to get guests to lean into each other and feel “intimate.” The gem lettuce salad was boring, but the mac and cheese and salmon main course were fantastic. The salmon was wrapped in ramp — which Leah informed us is a wild leek that is rare because it can’t be cultivated. It was sitting in a basil veloute that made me want to tip the bowl and drink the stuff like soup. I restrained myself just to sopping it up with bread. Bryan and I considered for a moment ordering the a.o.c. butter from Normandy because it’s the first time we’d ever seen butter on the menu. But while it was the cheapest item ($3), special ordering butter just seemed so excessive.

20003, Washington

Half-eaten burger from Good Stuff

Dear ——–,

The other week when I was in D.C., Will took me to Good Stuff. We’re both fans of Top Chef, so it was a treat to try a restaurant run by one of the contestants (Spike). It was hard to choose one burger off the menu. But I’m a sucker for anything that has daikon, so I got one of those. We also split a malted shake. The verdict: thumbs up! But more than anything else, it was a good opportunity to catch up with Will, who’s been traveling the world (China and Egypt!) to cover the news. It made me happy to hear that young(ish) reporters are getting some opportunities to do foreign reporting now — two friends at the LA Times were recently in Egypt and Afghanistan, and another LA Times friend has been in China for over a year. We’ve been all maturing, or maybe the world has gotten more unstable, increasing the need for fresh, first-hand accounts from far-flung locations. In any case, I’m glad that my friends are the ones who are going out there and telling us what it’s like.

20001, Washington

Chopt Creative Salad Company

Dear ——–,

Being on a plane for five hours without internet meant that the moment I disembarked in D.C. on Tuesday, I had about three hours of emails and Gordian knots to untie. I purposefully picked a hotel in McPherson Square so I’d have restaurants within walking distance. (I went to Washington to organize an event celebrating NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, which are exploring an exotic region at the edge of our solar system.) Of course, by the time I actually disconnected myself from the internet in my hotel room, it was 8 p.m. So I headed to Chinatown, betting that area would have a restaurant that was still serving food. I was happy that Chop’t was open — I wanted some fresh vegetables after eating dried snacks on the plane. The Tuscan farro salad — with mozzarella, artichokes, roasted tomatoes and a ramp vinaigrette — was the best salad I’ve eaten in ages and the perfect antidote to a long day.

90017, Downtown Los Angeles

About to bite into the "ruby canard"

Dear ——–,

What could be better for a snacky pregnant woman than a studio lot full of grilled cheese? Bryan and I went to the Grilled Cheese Invitational this afternoon. The Mendocino Farms pork belly cubano with Chinese hot mustard was my favorite of the day. We also polished off a Feast food truck grilled cheese with sweet chili paste and Thai basil; a Cynthia Washburn “ruby canard” sandwich with truffled chevre and duck; a Campanile cured meats and cherry peppers grilled cheese; and the Oaks Gourmet‘s Black Forest bacon and Cotswold cheese sandwich. There was buzz at the Daily Dish for the “Elvis:” chocolate marscarpone, brulee-ed bananas and bacon. But by the time we ordered, there was no bacon, so it was a let down. (I also felt bad for the guy who spent the entire afternoon with a hand torch treating the bananas.) The disappointment was quickly fixed by churro tots with whipped cream at the Border Grill truck.

P.S. The surprise of the day was the free sample Kruegermann pickle, which is the best pickle I’ve had out of a jar. When we asked the guy where we could buy them in L.A., he said, “Do you really love them?” Uh, yeah, I’m pregnant. We left with a free jar.

91204, Glendale

Dinner at Palate with the wine glass I didn't use

Dear ——–,

We’d been meaning to go to Palate for a long time, but we somehow only got our act together last Sunday, when my diet was limited because of being pregnant. It was still tasty, but I think I missed out on a few things. (OK, I know, I’ve got a bigger goal.) Palate is known for its wine list and Bryan and our friend Tad mmmm’ed their way through pinot noirs and sauvignon blancs. The “mixologist” had at least one fun non-alcoholic drink on his menu — a cucumber lime cooler — which Tammy and I ordered, twice, maybe out of spite. The prix fixe Sunday meal started with a wild greens salad with hazelnuts. It probably would’ve been better with the  runny egg that came on top of it, but I had to donate mine to Bryan. I had to order my hangar steak medium well, but it still had nice flavor. The whole meal finished off nicely with a Valrhona chocolate pudding sprinkled with fleur de sel and a chocolate torte. At least I don’t have any limitations on dessert!

91106, Pasadena

I was so hungry I took a bite out of this burger before I took a picture

Dear ——–,

Why does L.A. do the burger so well? Is it that the city came of age in the same era (the 1950s and 60s) as the burger joint? We finally made it to Pie ‘n Burger on Saturday and stepped into a different world as we sat down at the formica counter. A sassy waitress took our order. There was a lady sitting next to us with a sweater tied around her neck, eating a tuna sandwich plate with fruit and cottage cheese. The walls were decorated with wallpaper — the first time I’ve seen that in years. Pie n’ Burger has a pretty limited menu — hamburgers come with or without cheese, typically with lettuce and thousand island dressing. They ask if you want grilled onions. You have to ask for tomatoes. I got the works. “This whole thing is a symphony of flavors,” I told Bryan. “But I can only guess that there’s meat in there somewhere.” Bryan, who got only bun, meat and cheese, proclaimed that the stripped-down burger was good as well, so I’ll have to take his word for it.

90046, Hollywood

The sign outside Red O Restaurant

Dear ——–,

The other week, Bryan and I decided to hit up Red O. We’d cheered on the endlessly cheerful Rick Bayliss during Top Chef Masters so we were happy he recently opened a new Los Angeles outpost. The decor was pretty cool: shabby chic meets hacienda (e.g., a mattress frame as room divider). We quite enjoyed the short rib tacos cooked in a cazuela and a falling-apart cochinita pibil, though I found the cochinita pibil slightly salty. We finished up with bunuelos and salted caramel ice cream for dessert. Our trip to Red O made us wonder what to think of ethnic cuisine made by people of other ethnicities. I’d probably suspect Chinese food made by non-Chinese people, but, then again, I happily gobble down dumplings at Din Tai Fung prepared by a Latino crew. And I don’t necessarily hate “popularizers” if they introduce a phenomenon something to a new group of people (e.g., Elvis). I guess the bottom line was that the Red O food was tasty. Even though L.A. is replete with more modestly priced Mexican places — many with splendid food — it was nice to try a different take.