October 2022 Rundown

[cjla]

Lunch at Les Fidélis in DTLA

Menu
https://www.orderslesfideles.com/
View from the table

The address is 548 S. Spring St. Ste 11. It’s a tiny slip of a restaurant, with a barely visible door, and is one or two doors down from the sidewalk display sign that looks like a box of water.

Inside it seats maybe 12 - 16 people max, and is run by a mother and son. The people in there were young and cool - sitting and not in a hurry. My lunch with an old friend was terrific. I got the signature chicken and rice bowl. The rice was brown rice or barley. The chicken portion was fully spiced, and was perhaps a jerk chicken.

I’ll be back and hope they have continued good fortune. I was there on or around their one year anniversary. It’s not a drive-across-the-city place, or a pick-something-up in a hurry place. It was a place for a great meal and the feeling of meeting the people who run the business.

[ebethsdad]

If we ever have a meet up I will bring you some of my home cured and smoked bacon…

[Armillaria]

Falling in a Mushroom Heaven at Shunji San’s counter

Matsutake owan with eggplant filled the room with the most wonderful fragrance for this season

Matsutake with shungiku (chrysanthemum green), ginkgo nut and green bean in the welcome otsumami that Shunji San decided to bring it back from the old location.

King trumpet mushroom inside Hokkaido kegani chawanmushi, so comforting!

Enoki gavy, Renkon (lotus root) mochi with ebi, topped with bafun uni from Canada: a warm & lovely food hug!

My lovely couple

Welcome otsumami for Fall

Matsutake Owan, my favorite

Warm awabi (abalone) in the most comforting broth!

Shunji San presenting neta

Hokkaido Sanma / 秋刀魚 / Pacific Saury / Pike Mackerel Nigiri at the start of the season, in a perfect (smaller) size before they grow bigger travelling down south, so tasty!

Shirako with shari and shichimi (Japanese pepper). A perfect shirako risotto! Shirako’s season has started

Come celebrate their newly done cabinets, door and beautiful woodwork

All you can eat hand rolls, maybe

Uni tasting for all the uni loving friends (left to right) Canada Bafun, Hokkaido Bafun and Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Uni tonight was so much brighter, refreshingly sweet, light and clean on the palate. I’m not a huge creamy uni person, I enjoyed this more

Too many of highlights Lots of fun as always. All the mushrooms tho!!!

Tips: check their Tock page sometimes for random cancelations Shunji. - Santa Monica, CA | Tock

*The earliest Sanma I was lucky to have this season was from Yasu San at Inaba earlier on. It was so good with his special shari, of course, very different from Shunji San. Super exciting to learn and taste the beauty from different masters Appreciated!

[Gr8pimpin]

Wow, you have your own bacon bar!!!

[butteredwaffles]

Kippered DTLA

Mackerel in Muscadet, salami cotto from Olympia provisions (?) and ash-ripened goats milk cheese from Capricole Farms. Skin contact trebbiano

[PorkyBelly]

bleecker street pizza

joe’s pizza

john’s of bleecker street

[Gr8pimpin]

Damn!!!

Which do you like best?

[PorkyBelly]

my pizza power rankings
bleecker street
joe’s
john’s

[robert]

John’s has a great crust from the coal oven, but the toppings were like Sysco. Still true?

[boourns]

Did you hit Scarr’s yet?

[PorkyBelly]

yes

[PorkyBelly]

was on the list but didn’t make it

[hungryhungryhippos]

Cream pan yay! Also Hamada-ya does a great rendition too although they use fresh crème instead of custard cream.

[attran99]

#TeamCustard all the way

[robert]

Chinese delivery came with sourcing disclosure.

[ggdar]

Are you sure they are using a coal oven and not a charcoal oven? Coal is fossil fuel, a natural product. Commercial charcoal on the other hand is manufactured by human by killing trees.

[robert]

Of course I’m sure.

Coal-fired pizza

[J_L]

tori! tory! toré! has done it again…

Shiitake…

Amish chicken teba saki…

Extra bite on these marvelous wings…

Getting ready to smoke runny center uzura (quail eggs)…

Using hay to create that “Hay Hei” on those quail eggs…

Meiji mapo tofu, with chicken & pork…

Tsukune, raw egg, nori…

Hottodoggu… Dylan’s tribute to the iconic post-clubbing L.A. dog.

Set list…

Big props to Dylan Ho and his crew, and huge thanks to @CiaoBob & @LouisianaMouth for hosting! For any of you out there considering booking this, just do it.

Instagram: @tori.tory.tore

[hungryhungryhippos]

Milk farm has some great sandwiches on bub and grandma bread. Also their cheese is spectacular albeit sticker shockingly expensive.

[cjla]

No photos but my table of four went to Luyu Dumplings and ate quite a bit.

My standouts? The spicy noodles; the dumplings with pork and lotus root (really terrific); and something I ordered at my tablemates urging “egg rolls.” I believe we received Shandong Style egg roll - which if anyone out there can help me articulate? It had a visual similarity to a beef roll with the wrapper made of egg. The interior was a swiss roll type, however it had a non-sweet piece of fried bread/fat noodle? It also had greens (similar to lettuce) and probably something between sesame and peanut butter. It was a taste combination that was totally new to me, and something that I would not be able to order in a westernized restaurant.

https://www.luyudumplings.com/