Midtown Lunch

I have a confession to make.  When I first moved back to L.A. in February, my sandwich outlook was kind of grim.  Sure, I was excited for Philippe’s, Langer’s, and Bay Cities is a good Westside option (provided you order online!)  But mostly I was expecting one avocado topped grilled white meat chicken sandwich after another.  And, granted, there have been plenty of those to be found at generic sit down business lunch spots around the city. But there are also some amazing sandwich specialists, and even though they are pushing the boundaries of what amount is acceptable to charge for a fast casual sandwich shop there is no denying that some of them put out some lunches that are worth the splurge.

The Los Angeles Magazine sandwiches guide from June has been a great help (hello chicken salad from Gram and Papa’s and capastrami from Capriotti’s!) but there’s also that pork banh mi from Mencodino Farms, the lambwich from Venice Beach Wines, and the great new sandwich menu at Wally’s Cheese Box (in Westwood).  And now it’s time to add another to that list.  Thanks to a recommendation from Lunch’er “Harriet” I hit up Curious Palate on the other day, on Venice in Mar Vista, and had a sandwich that could go toe to toe with any of the above.

Check it out after the jump…

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So let’s briefly recap for those of you who have just turned in.  I am fat.  I am semi addicted to cheap (read: Americanized) Chinese food… and while Panda Express is one of my few fast food chain weaknesses, I feel obligated to give the mom and pops a fair shot. So, a few months ago I agreed to eat at any of the tons of these spots that litter the L.A. food landscape between Downtown and Santa Monica… provided I received a challenge from a reader.  The last one was (surprisingly) good.  Here is the latest…

From Lunch’er Daniel: “Huge fan, I’ve been following your blog since my days working at BusinessWeek in NYC. Anyhow, I now live in LA and currently work in Culver City and have been interested in trying this Chinese Buffet and thought you would be the perfect person/guinea pig to try it out for me :-). It’s called the Chinese Deli and it’s located at 5808 Rodeo (cross street is La Cienaga)”

Daniel, that sounds right up my alley. I accept your challenge.

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Food blogs are not exactly the bastions of humility- after all, it takes a lot of arrogance to spew your opinions daily on the interwebs.  But I’d like to admit something to you.  Despite living in NYC from 2005-2009 I know nothing about pizza.  Don’t get me wrong, I know what I like. And I know a few things… I know the difference between Neapolitan style pizza, and “New York style” pizza. I know that “real” Chicago pan pizza is better than Uno’s.  I think Mozza is amazing, but I also like Pitfire.  And as for the Vito’s vs. Joe’s battle in WeHo, they both tasted good to me.  I know that there is no DiFara’s here in Los Angeles (and there never will be.)  But you know what?  There’s no DiFara’s in Manhattan either.  And once Dom dies, there won’t be a DiFara’s in Brooklyn anymore either. John’s on Bleeker Street tastes great to me, but pizza “aficionados” seem divided.  In fact, pizza “aficionados” seem divided on everything. Which leads me to wonder… what the hell makes a perfect pizza?

I usually turn to Slice as my goto pizza experts.  They talk about things like tip sag, hole structure, char.  They take “upskirt” shots (and as a result, I’ve started taking upskirt shots.)  What are we looking for beneath that slice of pizza?  I haven’t the foggiest fucking idea.  I’m just a fat man, who likes to eat a few slices for lunch every once in awhile.  If you top dough with cheese and put it in the oven (with sauce or without), chances are I’m going to like it.  Which leads me to this question:

Last week I tried LaRocco’s in Downtown Culver City, and I thought it was pretty awesome.  Why aren’t they mentioned as one of the best slices in Los Angeles?  Is it just under the radar?  Or do I just not know shit about pizza?

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Love them or hate them, there is no denying that Kogi has influenced the entire landscape of food trucks in Los Angeles (and beyond).  And I’m not talking about twitter.  These days it is hard to find a single food truck that doesn’t serve some kind of fusion taco, and it looks like Chego- their new brick and mortar restaurant near Palms- might be having the same effect on the restaurants in the vicinity.

Chego, which serves Kogi-esque rice bowls with various toppings (an “upscale Yoshinoya” if you will) is still not open for lunch (much to my disappointment!) but Rio Brazil Cafe, located just a few doors down, is trying to fill the void.  Known for their feijoada, which traditionally is only served on the weekends, Rio Brazil Cafe has tried to capitalize on the new attention being paid to their previously deserted strip mall by beefing up their lunch options. I stopped by for lunch while Chego was under construction, and the restaurant was a ghost town.  Lunch options were limited mostly to sandwiches, and nothing looked too great.  Since Chego opened they’ve started serving the feijoada every day, and the walls are papered with specials- including a $7 lunch plate, and (naturally) a $6 Brazilian “chopped steak bowl”.

I headed over on Friday to check it out.

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If you like gourmet sandwiches, the west side is the place to be these days.  Popular Downtown staple Mendocino Farms opened in Marina del Rey last month, Skratch has become Choppe Choppe in Downtown Culver City, and now- filling the hole in between- Earl’s Gourmet Grub has opened in Mar Vista, on Venice.  If you live in the area you may already be familiar with Earl’s.  They’ve been selling their gourmet sandwiches at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market, preparing for the opening of their brick and mortar storefront- which finally happened last week.

Some of the sandwiches look good in that healthy, has vegetables, marinted not fried, safe for L.A. kind of way (I’m looking at you heartichoke) but I look for something a bit meatier in my sandwiches. Also, paying $9+ for a sandwich is not my idea of good deal, but I can be persuaded by interesting combos, quality ingredients, and cutesy names involving two of my favorite foods (hello “pig n fig”!)  So yesterday, I headed over to try some of their less healthy sounding sandwiches and see for myself whether this was a worthwhile “Midtown Lunch’ish” option or one of those new places that sound good on paper, but ends up not being worth the $$.

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I have a feeling the area around Overland and Palms is going to be one of my new favorite spots to eat.  There is Sushi Central (which was featured on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown), Kogi’s Chego! is having their grand opening this week (although, sadly not for lunch yet), and of course there is Simpang Asia, one of the best Indonesian spots in the city.  It might be a coincidence, but it looks like the latter is preparing for their neighborhood’s moment in the sun. At the end of last month they moved into a newly renovated space formerly occupied by their “grocery store”, which has now moved into the generic looking convenience store next door to that.  The old Simpang Asia space is going to be converted into a larger kitchen to accommodate the larger restaurant.

If that means shorter wait times on Thursdays and Fridays during lunch (the place tended to fill up pretty quickly), I’m all for it!  As for the food, well if you’ve ever been you know it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.  Check out the new digs, plus plenty of banana leaf wrapped food porn after the jump.

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