A Day in Chinatown
Plus: Monster Cookies, The Garden at Horses, and Links.
Hey everyone,
I’m gearing up for another trip to NY! Craig is putting the finishing touches on his movie but will be there through December (making a studio feature is a lot of work, apparently) so I’m trying to go as often as possible.
Meanwhile, I took a trip to L.A.’s Chinatown this past Saturday with my friend Toby. Together we checked out Pearl River Deli, one of the more celebrated new Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles.
Together we negotiated the menu — which had so many enticing Cantonese options — and agreed on the wontons in chili oil:
The mushroom chowfun (lead pic!) was meaty from the mushrooms and had a nice sear from the wok.
But the stars of the show here are definitely the charsiu:
Imagine the most luscious, sweet-and-savory pork spareribs and then imagine them off the bone. That’s what these tasted like. I could’ve eaten three pigs worth.
And then, of course, there’s the famous Hainan chicken which led The Infatuation to crown the chef “The Prince of Poultry.”
This may seem inauspicious, but it’s the most tender poached chicken with rice and served with the zippiest ginger scallion sauce. By itself, it’s a study in simplicity; topped with the sauce and some chili sauce, it’s the liveliest chicken you’re likely to have in a long time.
Before I met Toby, I killed some time at Now Serving, the cookbook store that’s so classy, they don’t carry any of my books! (Lol.) I jest: they’re really nice there and I had to stop myself from buying everything. Instead I got these two books — one about Sardinian cooking, one the funniest Jewish cookbook I’ve encountered — and they’re great additions to my collection:
Hey, did you know today’s Halloween?
I’m having a few friends over tonight to watch a scary movie, so I plan to make my favorite Halloween Cookies — these Monster Cookies from Just a Taste.
They’ve got oats, peanut butter, and — most importantly — M&Ms. Everyone always loves them; they taste like what you’d want to eat in your costume at school as a kid.
On Friday, I met my friend Spencer at The Garden at Horses — aka: B-list Horses.
See: the restaurant Horses in L.A. is so popular, they opened a second restaurant in their parking lot… and you know what? It’s pretty nice. Much quieter and the food is exactly the same with even more options.
I won’t go into everything that we ate (you have to get the Caesar and share a burger) but I want to point out this insane appetizer that totally worked: yam caponata:
It’s hard to tell but those are little yams that are deep fried and served with a mix of herbs and raisins and capers and, the most surprising part, celery, over a base of mascarpone.
Also: hat-tip to their Vesper, which is made with fig leaf-infused gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc:
Okay, now for some links:
New York restaurants have a pacing problem (Grub Street);
Nigel Slater’s chorizo, prune, and almond stew (interesting!) (The Guardian);
In case you missed it, I’m on the Everything Cookbooks podcast with Molly Stevens and Kate Leahy:
That’s all for today, folks!
Have a great Halloween. Winston can’t wait to put on his pizza costume.
Your friend,
Adam