Dine: Nirvana

Staying with the Indian theme, I recently tried Nirvana Restaurant and Lounge in Beverly Hills. Now, as you may recall, I've previously said that there is no good Indian food in LA prime, however after dining at Nirvana I stand corrected. Seriously, I was pretty shocked at how good the food was. Nirvana is located on Wilshire Blvd and has a tiny somewhat dilapidated front that I've never noticed before. Apparently 5 years or so ago it was a hip club, but such animals are short lived in LA. Even rarer is one that has good food and survives more than one season. The Executive Chef Raamanuj Sahay hails from India’s five star world-renowned Bukhara restaurant at the Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi, India, so perhaps that has something to do with the food quality. Once you step inside it still seems rather rustic, but try the food is all I suggest. I started with a fantastic Crispy Stuffed Mushrooms filled with cheese and cilantro appetizer that I've never before tried at an Indian restaurant, followed by Butter Chicken, Naan, Dal, the house special leg of lamb dish, and rice. And then, the highlight of the evening.


The carrot dessert. Once again I've never tried (or seen on the menu for that matter) such a dish in any of my many Indian dining experiences. This dessert is a combo of milk powder (typically found in many Indian confections), carrots, condensed milk, cardamom and a few other ingredients which result in a pudding-eque carrot dessert served with a side of fresh coconut ice cream. O.M.G. Go and get it RIGHT now!! Oh yes, and the chef showed me how to make naan in his tandoori oven, pretty rad. The dough sticks to the wall of the oven and takes about 60 seconds to crisp!

Nirvana Restaurant and Lounge
8689 Wilshire Blvd.
310-657-5040

Dine: Surati Farsan Mart

About a year or so ago, my fellow foodie friend Diane recommended an Indian restaurant in Artesia called Surati Farsan Mart. She gushed about the Pani Puri, among other dishes, and since then I have tried to plan a trip to Little India.


I did, in fact, make it to Artesia about six months ago, however at that time I had forgotten the name of the restaurant and Diane was unreachable so I had to rely on Chow and Yelp for some dining suggestions.


I ended up at Udupi Palace (which happens to be a stones throw from SFM) which was okay but I still hankered to try Diane's spot. So, I finallllly made it to SFM last weekend on the way to check out the OC Fair and was pleasantly surprised by the small cafe. Located just off Pioneer Blvd, Surati is more of a Indian confection store with tons of Indian desserts and snacks...made with dried milk, nuts, saffron...Obviously I had to try the desserts, but my boyfriend and I also ordered about 200% more than we should have off the cheapo savory menu.


Frankly the menu is quite large especially for the small cafe and when my request for naan was dismissed, I let my waiter take over the ordering for the most part. We did try one of their many varieties of pani puri, though I do believe that what we tried was not what Diane had recommended.


The one we had was too sweet for me (even though it was supposed to be savory).


Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly what we had, but I do suggest trying it for yourself!


Overall the food was quite tasty, if on the hot side, and after growing up eating tons of Indian on the East Coast, it was an extremely welcome change from subpar Indian restaurants that inhabit LA.


Surati Farsan Mart
11814 186th St., Artesia
(562) 860-2310

Recipe: Morene Bodner's Smashed Potatoes plus My Quick Steak Marinade

On a recent trip to NYC my friend Rebecca and I decided to cook dinner in her small NYC apartment kitchen. Downside? No dishwasher! Nonetheless- we checked her fridge for ingredients, went to the nearby Amish Market for a few extras and the menu was set.


Rebecca would make her mom's delish twice cooked potatoes and I would make my signature marinated steak plus my roasted cauliflower too. All three recipes are incredibly simple and very yummy. Big shout out to Reb's mom for the rad potato recipe which includes boiling the potatoes, smashing them on a sheet, dousing them with olive oil then baking them to a crunch. Score!!


Morene Bodner's Smashed Potatoes
(Serves 2)

6 Medium Potatoes (I've made this recipe with both fingerling and Russet potatoes and it was great each time)
6 tablespoons olive oil


Preheat oven to 400°F. Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from pot and place on baking sheet. Using fork, press potatoes onto baking sheet until they break open. Repeat for all potatoes. Pour olive oil atop potatoes and place in oven. Bake potatoes until edges are crisp and brown brown, about 45 minutes. Using spatula, place potatoes in bowl and serve.


My Go-To Steak Marinade

This marinade works for any cut of steak, though in this recipe we used skirt steak.

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teasonn brown sugar
3 cloves freshly minced garlic
salt/pepper

1 teaspoon minced ginger (optional)
1 scallion, chopped (optional)

Place steak in shallow bowl and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Add olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. Mix. Let steak sit in fridge (covered) about 30 minutes (if you have less time, 15 minutes will do) then flip steak oven to cover other side in soy mixture. Preheat oven to 350°F. Using cast iron skillet, cook steak about 3 minutes per side then transfer to oven and continue cooking until steak reaches desired doneness, about 5-6 minutes for medium rare. Remove from oven, transfer to cutting board and let sit about 5 minutes. Slices and serve.

Napa: Bouchon, Ubuntu, Ad Hoc

For some time now I've wanted to see Napa. I went to Sonoma for the first time in September and totally fell in love with the area. However, as much as I LOVE LOVE Sonoma, Napa has the Keller! Seriously, French Laundry is on the top of my to do list so when I hopped a plane last minute 2 weekends ago- I definitely attempted a reservation.



However, to no avail. But, being that Napa is Napa, there were plenty of fantastic restaurants to try out. Let's start with Bouchon. Ate there with the BF Friday night. We've eaten at the Vegas outpost many times with rather mixed reviews, however I had heard that the original location was, not surprisingly, the best.



Ugh, we were so disappointed. Steak overcooked, haricots verts overcooked, green salad fine, mac and cheese just ok. Profiteroles (one of my all time FAVE desserts) stale and mushy. Highlight of the meal? Out waiter/bartender Jeremy who was quite entertaining. Oh, and earlier that day we had stopped by Bistro Jeanty for a snack and that was better than Bouchon. On to day two. Of course the requisite wine tasting which proved quite the feat in 105° weather but we made it through. We skipped lunch because our bomb hotel the Villagio had an actually pretty fantastic breakfast situation..so on the the wineries...then to Ubuntu for dindin. Since I read Frank Bruni's article last year in the NY Times where he rated Ubuntu one of the top 10 restaurants in the country, I've been so excited to try it out. It's actually the cutest place ever and I recommend it to anyone.



I also had a long chat with the chef Jeremy Fox where I suggested an LA outpost and he didn't poo poo the idea. The day we had stopped by he had just soft opened Ubuntu Annex next door which is a small market with everything form yoga clothes to Ubuntu's delish beet dirt. So Ubuntu is large open and very spread out with a laid back vibe and huge windows in the front. It sort of reminds me of Gjelina For those that don't know, Ubuntu is a vegetarian restaurant (some vegan offerings) though not your average vegetarian's vegetarian.



Jeremy for one is NOT a veg, but the food is so fantastic that one doesn't miss the meat at all. Also some sauces are prepared and reduced in a way that they actually mimic a meat flavor which is quite interesting. We tried: the hummus, the peas with white chocolate (SO GOOD), the garden torta with truffle cheese, a handful of other savories and of course some sweets.



The mini carrot cupcake was really fun, tasty, and not over sweetened with hints of carrot and a caramelized baby carrot atop.
On to day 3. Most notably we ate at Ad Hoc, TK's casual resty. I did find some strawberry patches and a nectarine tree in the back and may or may not have stolen some juicy fruit pre dinner!




This dinner however, was fantastic. Basically, Ad Hoc changes the menu every night and simply offers 4 exact same courses (10 components) to every diner in the restaurant. So, rather than choosing what one wants from the menu, one is presented with the menu. We started with a mushroom torta and mixed green salad- these were some of the tastiest and freshest greens I have ever tried in my life.



Next came braised beer with spinach, fried chickpeas and raisins with a side of roasted carrots with parsley, course three was a french cheese (forgot name) with strawberries and toasted sunflower seeds and then an apricot plum crumble and vanilla ice cream.



All food is served family style and I now understand why Keller is as famous as he is (not that I didn't get it before but..you know...). He can elevate the simplest ingredients and make them grand. Easily, our fave dinner.