food diary 13: l.a. story

march 26 - march 31

Had the chillest time in L.A., thanks to Penelope and everyone I ran into along the way. Full story coming soon, but here’s the food I ate back home in California.

3.26 Upon landing, and before sending Penelope off to work at Jeni’s, we got soup dumplings at Mason’s in Highland Park. We regretted not ordering three rounds of pork soup dumplings, however, I did enjoy the chicken yuzu dumplings as well. I loitered until Penelope closed the ice cream shop (tried all of their flavors and loved their darkest chocolate and salty caramel the most) and checked out the bars on the block. I didn’t want to go bowling alone, but sipped on a refreshing Sin Cara paloma at Highland Park Bowl, watching others bowl. I tried an Emo’s taco at HomeState with refried black beans, guacamole, shredded cabbage, pickled red onions on a housemade flour tortilla that was delicious. Their chicken was simple but tasty—Mary's free-range chicken, spicy achiote marinade, guacamole, shredded cabbage. Then had interesting conversations at Gold Line—that felt like a replica of Studio 151—over an excellent guava caipirinha and another Paloma. Went home and took a bunch of photos at Oxy with Penelope’s L.A. churros, since it’s always so deserted.

3.27 I was super busy getting my nails done at Nail Kitchen by Janis and checking out the AWP book tables, that I didn’t eat anything until late afternoon when I stumbled upon the Poetry is Not a Luxury reading at Far Bar in Little Tokyo. While I can’t say much about the poetry, the function wine, spicy tuna roll, and strawberry shortcake filled me until dinner. On my way to Kismet, I was encircled by Dodgers fans celebrating their win, but made it to my Uber across the street. The interior of Kismet is minimal yet warm and cozy. Penelope and I shared their fried cauliflower with caper yogurt, tahdig (Persian-style rice with currants, pumpkin seeds + egg yolk), seeded Barbari bread, and Brussels sprouts. I enjoyed the freshness of the vegetables but thought the tahdig was a little too crispy for my taste and could have used more flavors like pomegranate seeds. We walked to El Cid for the Nightboat party, where the line was way too long to get a drink, but I stayed for a good amount of time, mingling with those I never ran into in New York.

3.28 I walked around Eagle Rock and tried a strawberry matchaccino with cold frothed organic strawberry milk. It was comforting drinking it in the sun amongst all of the plants outside. I didn’t try the jam at Sqirl; there was too much pressure on whether or not I should get French toast for myself, that we both got our own silky French omelettes. Not to say it wasn’t nourishing and delicious—think whipped feta, finished with chives, & accompanied by a side of Shu market greens—but I definitely need their jam next time.

We took photos in Echo Park before my reading at Nico’s in Atwater Village. I loved the venue, complete with a disco light leading you downstairs, and the orange wine was lovely. You can watch my reading here. We returned to Highland Park Bowl, put our names on the bowling waiting list, grabbed a strong frozen Paloma from HomeState and danced to Arcade Fire on a set of stairs looking out at the sprawl below. Bowling was incredibly fun, and I continued my Paloma kick, finishing the night at Blind Barber until it closed. We stopped by Leo’s Taco Truck to split a chicken burrito before turning in.

3.29 I had dreamt of Joy for so long, and we finally went right when they opened on Saturday afternoon. We shared the Dan Dan noodles of course, the thousand-layer pancake, and I got a small wonton soup. I didn’t think the flavors of the soup were as strong as last time, but I enjoyed their peanuty, cucumer noodle concoction that refuses to leave my mind. We split ways, and I basked in the sun for a bit at Barnsdall Art Park, before heading to Jim Jarmusch’s art opening at James Fuentes. It was cool, and I gifted him a copy of GLIB. Penelope and I met up in Echo Park after, and upon passing Reverie Bookstand, remembered there was a reading going on that I had wanted to check out with Shy Watson and Erin Taylor. Reverie is a great spot, that we hung out in for a while after the reading since we heard the line at Bar Henry was long, and I ended up noshing on their surprisingly great pizza and charred Brussels sprouts from Pitfire Pizza.

Joey, a poet I went to Bennington with, stopped by and we ended up going to Capri Club together. It was beautiful having a drink outside, catching up as blossoms lingered over us. I had a peach-tini. Once they closed, we walked over to Walt’s, which is an amazing place with pinball machines, soft pretzels, and ice cold beer. We met up with Gerry there and drank rosé. We finished the chit chatting night in Penelope’s backyard, and I luckily woke up at 6 a.m. for my flight that ended up getting delayed, but that’s another story!

3.31 My mom and I took my aunt to the Marin Country Mart in Larkspur to celebrate her upcoming birthday. It’s a lovely place full of cute boutiques. We went to Farmshop for lunch which was a wonderful farm-to-table experience. My mom and aunt split the seared Ora King salmon with full belly farms delicata squash, fennel pollen yogurt, heirloom red quinoa, and smoked almond salsa. I tried a bite and it was exquisite. We loved their Star Route Farms roasted beets with laura chenel goat cheese & poppy seeds and their wood-fired caramelized Meyer lemon pizza with charred kale pesto, Bellwether Farms crescenza, smoked mozzarella, pecorino, parmesan, and Marshall’s farm honey. I had their poached chicken salad, that I didn’t expect to be deconstructed, but it was still a harmonious blend of baby gem lettuce, shaved radishes, Coachella valley dates, herbed walnuts, hard boiled egg, and cacio e pepe vinaigrette. To top off the meal, we ordered a a perfect slice of citrus olive oil cake with winter citrus, poppy seeds, whipped crème fraîche, and a birthday candle for my aunt. I would go back. I’m in love with all of the colors as well as the flavors. After some shopping, I tried the Calm Down smoothie from SunLife Organics with mango, coconut sorbet, dragon fruit, passion fruit, coconut whip, and collagen. It was a bit sweet, but I really liked it. We then drove to The Village at Corte Madera and then got In-n-Out on our way home, where I got grilled onions on my burger.

Thanks for reading :) Hawaii is coming next °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

xoxo,
ashley

p.s. GLIB official tour announcements coming soon. purchase your copy today!