This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
A county, 88 cities, tens of millions of inhabitants… Los Angeles is one of the most cosmopolitan megacities in the world; no wonder we saw the birth of the toast with avocado and the kale chips of this world!
If the case is ketchup today, it was not always so… “In the 1990s, New York and San Francisco were the two gastronomic poles of the United States, and Los Angeles was considered a second rank on that front,” said Lauren Salisbury, senior director of international communications for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Then the chefs in these towns started to burn out, and many of them moved here in search of a better quality of life. It was then that, freed from the dictates of luxury dining, they began to think ‘outside the pan’ and create fusion cuisine dishes.
Several assets come together to make the City of Angels the cradle of new foods; talented chefs including several women, some Michelin starred such as Nancy Silverton at Osteria Mozza, a tremendous cultural diversity, guarantee of this famous fusion of culinary influences, a climate ensuring a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables all year round , more than 50 farmers markets in the county…
Graze healthy
Judging by the contents of the menus of the most popular or newest restaurants, Los Angelians are particularly fond of plants these days. But given the movement celebrating organic, local, farm-to-fork food, dating back to the hippies of the 1960s and 1970s, who were already aware of the harmfulness of pesticides, there is nothing new under the Californian sun, so … In fact, what is new, according to Lauren Salisbury, “is the notoriety achieved today by this fresh cuisine”. In short, Brussels sprouts would finally be “on its X” in restaurants for vegetarians, vegans and omnivores alike.
In the city center, which we visit in particular for The Broad, a sublime museum of contemporary art (hello, Basquiat, Kusama and company!) neighboring the sparkling Walt Disney concert hall, designed by Frank Gehry, the new restaurant Gusto Green relies on a food approach that revolves around plants and medicinal plants, such as sprouted beluga lentils and hemp. The greenhouse-like establishment occupies the ground floor of the Green Street Building, a crossroads of cannabis-related businesses. “Why hemp? Because it’s a superfood! says Jeronimo De Miguel, partner of Toronto restaurateur Janet Zuccarini. We therefore find this plant rich in omega-3 on a pizza, in the zaatar of a baba ganoush, in a salad, cookies and, eventually, we will offer its leaves in tempura.
The butcher’s vegetable girl
Always fans of the city center, even in the new Proper hotel, Caldo Verde concocts Portuguese cuisine that mainly highlights market vegetables. In the Arts District, Girl and the Goat takes customers by the belly with its carrot hummus, chickpea fritters and grilled shishitos, in addition to goat dishes.
Our favorite ? The Butcher’s Daughter, in Venice Beach, a town that a visionary, Abbot Kinney, wanted to transform into a serene little town. (Indeed, beyond the seafront promenade and Muscle Beach, the prettiest stretch of the residential area is lined with canals lined with villas.)
In this luminous lair, Heather Tierney imagined what would be the restaurant of a butcher’s daughter turned vegetarian out of disgust: a place where they fillet and chop greens and vegetables rather than meat. This makes pizza with zucchini ribbons and cashew ‘ricotta’, as well as a ‘healing harvest bowl’ made with cauliflower, quinoa, sweet potato and watermelon radish ‘rice’. . Nearly opposite, De Buena Planta, from the same team, serves “clean” Mexican cuisine including jackfruit and black bean taquitos, as well as organic lime juice margaritas and, clear that ifcold pressed.
Carolyne Parent traveled to Los Angeles thanks to Air Transat’s new year-round flight to this destination from Montreal.