Midtown Lunch

As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Patricia, an inventory manager (and Co-Founder of Boobs4Food), with her lunch recommendations for those of you who work in the no man’s land between WeHo and Beverly Hills.

Name: Patricia

Age: 27

Occupation: Operations and inventory manager by day, amateur baker at every other hour, co-founder of Boobs4Food

Where in L.A. do you Work?: A retail clothing boutique chain at Third & Robertson, the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood no man’s land

Favorite Kind of Food: I’m going to cheat and keep it broad — “comfort” food. Not specifically American comfort food, but those of most other cultures. Braised meats, curries over rice, slow-cooked sauces over pasta, soup noodles, stews — things that you would find your [ethnicity inserted here] best friend’s grandmother’s cooking. And good, salted butter or triple-creme cheese smeared on a fresh baguette.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Overdressed salads. I may be in the minority because with in-season produce and a slightly salty element like olives, cured meat, or cheese, I rarely think a salad needs dressing at all, but all too often, a perfectly good salad is ruined by dressing poured with a heavy hand. What before was a mix of fresh and clean tasting ingredients, becomes a wet rag.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: I usually eat pretty simply at lunch to sustain indulgent dinners out. When I feel the hankering for cheese and bread, I’ll go to Joan’s on Third (8350 W. 3rd St.) and consult the always helpful cheesemonger, throw in some speck, and a baguette from Breadbar (8718 W. 3rd St.). (I keep Echire butter in the work fridge.) The Joan’s short rib grilled cheese (aka Bon Appetit cover girl) is quite a tasty bread/meat/cheese combination, but reserved for special occasions like mild depression. A slice of the white pie at Vito’s (846 N. La Cienega) is also a favorite, and if I’m feeling like protein, I’ll pick up the koobideh or beef kabob at La Cienega Kabob House (444 N. La Cienega). Since the inception of Cart for A Cause, I’ve been known to hightail it to the Pacific Design Center or 5900 Wilshire for the chef of the day’s creation. Reliably delicious, substantial, and feeds myself as well as a senior — without a doubt, the best Tuesday option.

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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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Boat Noodles from Sapp’s Coffee Shop. Photo courtesy of Noah Galuten.

• HOLLYWOOD/K’TOWN Not all the best Asian noodle bowls under $7 are in the SGV! [Squid Ink]
• KOREATOWN Another garlic fan raves about Myung Dong Kyoja [Eat Drink & Be Merry]
• BEVERLY HILLS Momed looks good, sadly it’s all over $10 [Tasting Table]
• DOWNTOWN El Cholo is opening Monday on S. Flower [Eater]
• WEST L.A. California Wok has just been added to my Chinese Food Challenge [Squid Ink]
• MOBILE Sky’s Gourmet Tacos is launching a truck [Squid Ink]
• MOBILE For Hawaiian street food, check out the Shrimp Guys [Dig Lounge]
• SANTA MONICA Fig launches a (very expensive!) hot dog cart [E*star LA]
• VENICE Benny’s Tacos & Rotisserie coming soon to Lincoln [Grub Street]

I try to be positive here on Midtown Lunch… and I freakin’ love this city.  The food is amazing, and there’s no better place to be a “Midtown Lunch’er”.    But as much as I love much of the food in L.A. (and will defend it to the death against any outsiders, or natives with an inferiority complex) there are some things about lunching in this town that really piss me off. (And more often than not it’s not the food but the people eating it… or not eating it, as is often the case here.) Here are 7 of them, LAist style, for your enjoyment…

1. People who get excited about a place where you have to pay by the pound. I love buffets, but pay by the pound? It’s like a tax that takes advantage of fat people. You put me in front of a buffet, and I can’t be held responsible for what happens next. Putting my plate on a scale after I ravage the steam tables? That’s just cruel. Thankfully yogurt and candy don’t weigh a lot- so my few trips to Yogurtland have been relatively cheap. But Brazilian meats? At $10 a pound? Even my guide to beating the by the pound buffets isn’t going to work in that situation (especially when the place charges you more for taking *all* meat.)

2. Seeing a guy walk by Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop in Beverly Hills with a bag from Subway. That just does not compute.

3. The existence of Chipotle. New Yorkers have an excuse for liking Chipotle (i.e. they don’t know any better, and in most neighborhoods, it’s all they’ve got.) Los Angeles should know better.

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Everybody I’ve met who works in Beverly Hills has pretty much told me the same thing… it is a wasteland of overpriced power lunches. You want cheap, interesting food- you’re going to have to go out of your way.  Cheap and decent ethnic food?! Good luck.  But I haven’t given up just yet, and when Los Angeles Magazine put Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop on their list of the best sandwiches in L.A. I couldn’t help but get a little bit excited.

See, I like sandwiches.  But not just any sandwich.  “The best” roast beef sandwich doesn’t nothing for me.  Dip that same sandwich in gravy, or cover it in horseradish and then we’re talking. “The best” turkey sandwich? Snore.  Top that turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, and serve it in a month other than November… now we’re getting somewhere.  Oh, and cole slaw and russian dressing automatically makes any sandwich better.  Which brings us to Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop (on Wilshire).  They’ve got both.

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