The L.A. Dishes We'll Miss The Most

Ten highly personal, idiosyncratic, and emotional plates of food we'll dream about from three thousand miles away.

Hey everyone,

The plans are in motion. The wheels are turning. In just a few weeks, we’ll be heading to New York to find our new apartment and two weeks after that, movers are coming to take all our stuff away! In a blink of an eye, we’ll be back again living in The Big Apple and our twelve years of living in L.A. will feel like a strange dream right out of David Lynch, with hints of Cooking with Giada.

It’s not on the list, but Cookbook in Echo Park is the grocery store I’ll miss the most.

We’re going to miss our friends so much, it’s hard to process; and for sure, when it’s two degrees and slushy, we’ll definitely miss the weather. But what about the food? Which L.A. restaurants and foodstuffs are we going to miss the most?

I could lie to you and list all of the trendiest, most notable L.A. places. I could shed fake tears over Mother Wolf, I pretend sob over Gjusta. But truthfully? I won’t really miss those places (though the baklava croissant is pretty nifty).

When it comes to the dishes and places we’ll miss the most, they’re all highly personal, highly regional (as in: near us in Atwater Village), and highly emotional because of all of the memories we have associated with them.

And so, without any more fanfare, here they are: the ten L.A. dishes that we’ll miss the most when we move back to NYC.

10. The Seared Trout with Cauliflower Quinoa and Dill Yogurt at Blair’s

Oh Blair’s. How to explain Blair’s? Imagine your favorite local restaurant, with wooden tables and soft lighting and friendly service, but set it in L.A. where every so often you notice Dan Levy from Schitt’s Creek three tables down. That’s Blair’s. Effortlessly chic; not the kind of place you’d ever go to if you were visiting L.A. for 36 hours, but just the kind of place you’d constantly go to if you actually lived here.

The burger at Blair’s is sloppy and sophisticated; an In-N-Out Burger without the fluorescent lights. We also love the arugula Caesar and the deviled eggs. But the dish from Blair’s that I’ll miss the most? It’s the Seared Trout with Cauliflower Quinoa and Dill Yogurt:

It’s a modest looking plate, but it’s also not something I’d ever make at home. (Too much time to make the quinoa, to roast the cauliflower, to sear the trout.) The dill yogurt makes an otherwise virtuous dish feel slightly decadent. It’s the kind of dish you that can eat on a weeknight with a glass of wine after work (which we’ve done many times) or the kind of dish you can eat on a Saturday night before going out on the town, so you don’t feel too heavy. It’s a staple and one we’ll miss from the rotation.

9. The Terry Gross from Wax Paper

If the owners of Wax Paper have a yacht, it’s because my better half, Craig, orders their Terry Gross sandwich at least once a week. Wax Paper names all of its sandwiches after NPR hosts, and its fitting that one of the biggest names on NPR inspired one of the biggest sandwiches on their menu:

Piled on to fluffy focaccia, you’ll find a generous amount of turkey, green chili aioli, jalapeno-radish slaw, tomatillo vinaigrette, and pepper jack cheese. Eating this isn’t lunch, it’s an event worthy of Pay-Per-View. I can only handle half of a Terry. Gross when we order from there (I’m more partial to the Kai Ryssdal, which is tuna with green onion vinaigrette) and I also sometimes take the cheese off, which drives Craig nuts. But if there’s one sandwich that’s emblematic of our time in L.A., it’s this one.