Apple Pan

LA may be known for their sushi and their fresh, organic cuisine, but they’ve got some serious burgers out there, too. My favorite was at Apple Pan, a relic that hasn’t changed anything since it opened in 1947. The wallpaper is red plaid and the layout consists of one U-shaped bar with red bar seats bolted to the ground—no crowding—that surrounds a central griddle/food prep area where two people assemble burgers and man the deep fryer.

Here, you must order everything as is on the menu, no substitutes. The man who took our order looked like he’d been taking burger orders at Apple Pan for quite some time and didn’t seem like a special requests kind of guy. Go for the hickory burger: a toasted bun painted with mayo, topped with an ample amount of iceburg, then burger patty, cheese, and then topped with their special hickory sauce. The lettuce is key. It keeps the whole thing crunchy as the hickory sauce seeps to all layers. The patty is thin but flavorful, and combined with the sauce, there’s no doubt about its big flavor.

The burger comes wrapped in parchment paper; no plate so as to facilitate gobbling the burger as fast and efficiently as possible. Fries come on a plate and I suggest ordering themsince they arrive in a jiffy and will save you from reaching over to your neighbor and stealing his burger. You can ask for your fries well done here, which means they’ll leave them to soak up even more oil in the deep fryer.

A girl who was with me ordered a tuna melt claiming that it was fantastic here. She ordered hers on rye with cheddar cheese. The only non-burger on the menu, I was skeptical until I took a bite and decided that this was a legit thing to order if for whatever reason you may be in a non-burger mood at Apple Pan.

However, if that’s the case, I suggest just going straight to the apple pie, which comes à la mode. It tastes great after wolfing down piping hot greasy meat, but it probably is just as good if eaten solo. The cool milky ice cream and the warm, soft apples make for a sublime combination.

Come in late night and have a full Apple Pan meal and you are sure to get a very good night of sleep.

Malibu Seafood

After I came to understand that’s it’s sunny every day in LA, I realized that you could truly have the perfect afternoon anytime you want by hopping on the Pacific Coast Highway and driving to Malibu Seafood. There are three sections of fried options at Malibu Seafood—the fish shack located along the PCH that serves up the tastiest lunch along the beach. Only after you finish reading about a la carte fried oysters and clam strips, shrimp sandwiches, and fish and chips should you then consider checking out the grilled options such as the squid steak sandwich and the ahi tuna. It’s all wonderful, but there is something truly spectacular about dining at picnic tables from little red and white cartons, eating with your hands a myriad of crispy fried fish as the sea breeze wisps across your back. It sounds like a dream, but it’s the exact reality at Malibu Seafood.Your lunch can even be flanked by a swim in the ocean or a hike into the canyons that serve as a backdrop for the whole occasion.

M. Cirino of A Razor, A Shiny Knife

The day after a theatrical dinner party for 30 people, hosted by A Razor, A Shiny Knife, I am with Michael Cirino, the gentleman who heads this lunatic group of performance-loving chefs. I am watching him clean up while simultaneously fielding requests for extra-thick bacon and roasted garlic. There was an article about his culinary venture in the Times a few weeks ago and now he’s hosting parties nearly every week. The previous evening had been an amalgam of performance theatre and performance cooking, which is exactly what he is going for. Cirino’s concept is to throw parties in which social, educational, and theatrical elements are all represented. Cooking is his art of choice and he invites guests into the kitchen to help him create it.

He grew up in a large Italian family where there was as much action in the kitchen as while gathering around the table. With Cirino’s dinner parties, he recreates this feeling of merriment and celebration, but his cooking adds a new layer of allure. After taking a class taught by Harold McGee, Cirino naturally fell into the cooking=science thought camp. FerranAdriá-esque cooking experiments ensued.

The result is dishes like mole papardelle with duck ragu. Instead of braising the duck in mole sauce, Cirino prefers to make the pasta from the sauce and serve the duck ragu dry atop it. Looking through his website, www.arazorashinyknife.com, there are all kinds of culinary inventions like this. There is mushroom bread pudding and raisin granita; there is a long list of inventive pasta infusions (beef broth? Pheasant egg? Check. Check).

At each event, his friends and helpers include celeb-chef minions and full-blown culinary intelligentsia in their own right. He strives to push himself to learn new techniques and also to teach his skills to the attendees. He wants everyone to have a vested interest in the food they cook, pointing out that it adds to the shared experience.

For the time being, the price of an evening is just enough to cover grocery costs, usually ranging between $60-100 per person. He still has a “legal-type day job” to pay the bills and doesn’t know exactly what the goal of his operation is; however, the passion and drive are there and he seems to have a pretty good nose to follow.

mmmmMCM

This newsletter is not to plug our own events; however, the mosaics of Michael Curry are just too gorgeous not to mention.  On October 14th at 423 W.55th, The Dish’s Dish will be catering an event for a show of Michael Curry Mosaics. He works with stained glass, Venetian glass, and mirror to create artworks that catch and refract light in transcendent ways. As backsplashes in kitchens, as tabletops, as window panels and as stand-alone pieces of art, Curry works masterfully with his materials to enhance any room. Head to his opening to see his stunning new works and nibble on DISH-catered cuisine while you are there. You may be inspired to (finally getting around to) decorating or redecorating your apartment—and to hire The Dish’s Dish for your house warming party thereafter.

Carlos Coffee at Fives Leaves

I wanted to check out Five Leaves, a new café that’s come to the periphery of my neighborhood, because of a) the Smith & Mills connection to its design and b) the Heath Ledger connection to its inception. I was surprised when, one day, while grabbing a coffee from its convenient to-go window, I saw Carlos. Carlos is a highly skilled barista who I patronized many years ago at Brown, in the Lower East Side. I hadn’t been there in a long time until a few weeks ago when I revisited the place, and of course saw Carlos, which left me nostalgic for daily access to perfect cappuccinos—sweet steamed milk, velvety foam, and caramel-y smooth espresso. He was such a pro that he’d even finish off the top with a steamed milk design of a tree or a leaf or a heart. I was then doubly surprised to see him resurface at Five Leaves. More than the design and the Heath Ledger connection put together, you should go to Five Leaves for a Carlos coffee.

Crab Dip

Something that I’ve particularly grown to love is crab dip. Not scorched essence of crab flavored cream cheese versions but instead, real, chilled, chunky crab dip made with more fresh crab than cheese. The best proportion combo is to use half the amount of cream cheese as you are using crab. So, if you use half a package of cream cheese (4 oz), go for a whole cup of crab—fresh if you have the access. This ensures nuggets of pure seafood in some bites and a mixture of crab and cheese at the bare minimum. You can add a little mayo and milk to smooth everything out, but you want those hunks of crab intact—it’s always so exciting to get one! Don’t forget the salt and cayenne pepper and maybe a hint of Tabasco for a little color and kick. Find some crunchy crackers and you’ve got a meal.

Créme de Kiawah

Just a ways from Charleston, there is a small, sweet island called Kiawah. Vacationers and year-rounders alike go to take in the gorgeous beaches and swim in the warm, refreshing ocean. After a day of sunshine, we saddled up to the bar at Rosebank Farms Café. Wanting to stay light on our feet, we split a crab cake, which came atop a white corn patty and collard greens. Spicy red pepper jelly dotted around the plate made for an ideal accent in which to dip each bite. We are avid crab cake eaters and were especially so on this weekend, but this one was surely a highlight.

Thereafter, it was onto an almost too buttery-it-was-so-fresh piece of tuna splashed with sweet barbecue sauce and topped with fried onions. Drunken butterbeans and rice were afterthoughts to the fish. The taste and texture of the tuna led us to believe that we weren’t the only ones who had been swimming in the ocean that day.