Friday was a day of reunions and a lot of good eating.  Sounds like the same story as every entry when I’m on vacation, doesn’t it? 

First there was a lunch at the Shoreline Cafe in Long Beach with Aaron and Jose, former colleagues from my days working at AMC Theatres.  Aaron had just moved to Los Angeles two days earlier, after living abroad with his partner in Mexico City for the previous two years.  Having followed similar paths, we have had a lot to talk about and I’m glad we have stayed in touch.  Hopefully now that he is in LA, he’ll find the next path that he needs to follow.

Jose is someone I haven’t had any contact with in years, and he was able to give me the low down on the universe of former AMC colleagues (a few of whom actually still work for AMC!).  My days working in the motion picture exhibition industry were formative.  One of these days I’ll write more about it, to try and capture just how much fun and how difficult running a movie theatre is.

After lunch, I continued my way to the west side of LA, making a stop at the pocket park next LAX.  Located across the street from an In-n-Out Burger, this park is directly under the short final approach path for runway 25R.  This is where many of the large planes coming from Europe, Asia and Australia land.  Great spot for plane watching.  Notice that I’m restraining myself and not posting any more airplane pictures.

About 3:00, a little Xangan pow-wow began as I met Gary at Cafe Surfas in Culver City, above.  Surfas is this combination of a cute cafe and a store that sells restaurant supplies and gourmet foodstuffs.  Credit goes to Tony for including this in one of his photoblogs and giving me the idea.  Oddly, I got into trouble for taking pictures, so I guess Tony was just more clandestine than I, as he was able to get many beautiful shots.

Below, Gary is shocked by the high price of imported Thai coconut milk.  What goes for fifty cents in Thailand (or the equivalent in baht) is three dollars at Surfas!  This must be designed for Angelenos who aren’t comfortable walking into a local “ethnic” market, where you could get many of these ingredients at a much lower price.

On the kitchen supply side of the store I found my dream oven: an industrial sized convection oven in which I could cook a few hundred cupcakes at once.  This is where a passing employee admonished us to not take pictures.  I would have been more favorable in my comments above, noting the broad selection of foreign foods rather than their significant prices, had they not been so camera shy.

We were joined by Steve.  Because he doesn’t regularly include any photos of himself on his blog, I made the decision not to include any photos of him in this entry.  But he’s coming to Thailand soon so maybe you can encourage him to jump in front of the lens.

After browsing as Surfas, which really does have a great selection of things, especially cookware, we headed to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.  This is one of my old stomping grounds.  When I lived in Los Angeles in 1995-96, I worked in Century City and spent a lot of time in Santa Monica with friends.  Glad to see some things have not changed despite the continual “mallification” of the Promenade.  Below, a group of hare krishna perform at the corner of Arizona and Third Street.

How do you know when you’ve really arrived in LA?  When, in the course of two blocks, you hear hare krishna chanting at dusk, watch a group of youngsters break dancing for tips, get bored with a French mime doing slow motion sleight of hand, observe a man with his monkey, and are a bit shocked by a pair of books on display in the Barnes and Noble window: The Big Book of Breasts and The Big Penis Book.  It is always 74 and sunny here, right?

For dinner, we were joined by William and tried Gary’s recommendation of Musha on Wilshire Boulevard, a Tokyo cuisine restaurant that also has a location in Torrance.  Musha is often described as a Japanese-French fusion tapas restaurant.  I’m not sure how accurate that description is.  It might be better to describe it as an izakaya restaurant, kind of a sake bar that offers more significant food than your regular sake bar. 

In the same way that Spanish tapas evolved from small bites provided to bar patrons to keep them from getting too drunk, izakaya serve small plates of food to satisfy customers over several hours of drinking.

Musha has received positive reviews for some of the spins it places on traditional izakaya dishes, as well as some downright non-Japanese food on the menu.  We skipped the heavy drinking part (other than a beer that William and I split) and focused on the food.

The interior of Musha is small, with a bar at the front and a dozen tables behind.  Lanterns and warm colors keep the space intimate and cozy.  Service is friendly and efficient, primarily by a pair of Japanese-speaking wait staff that keep things running smoothly.  Other than a noisy group of office workers who gathered at the bar to celebrate something, the volume of the restaurant was tolerable.

Let’s take a look at our culinary tour.  We started with a spicy tuna dip served with rice crackers, something fun and tasty:

Also arriving early was duck breast marinated in ponzu sauce (the citrus-flavored dipping sauce common with things like gyoza) served on grated daikon oroshi with Tokyo leeks.  The duck was very tender and the ponzu sauce really cuts through the richness of the meat.

The highlight of the evening – the culinary highlight of my entire trip, in fact – was the torched aburi saba.  This was mackerel sliced sashimi-style, marinated in vinegar, then torched at your table.  Here’s a video:

The finished product was a perfect balance of textures and flavors.  Saba is a meaty fish with a slightly salty disposition.  It wasn’t marinated too long, so it still had the sashimi texture, but the saltiness was balanced by the sweet tanginess of the marinade.  To top it off, the skin was slightly crisp and had a charred smokiness from the torching. 

Such a delicate layering of flavors.  I’d like to try making it at home, but don’t want to buy an industrial grade torch.  That’s a bit too much.  Maybe I can find a pipe-fitter who will lend me a torch.  Below, a closeup of two individual pieces.  Notice the color of the flesh.

Next we had a grilled portobella mushroom and acorn squash with a miso-citrus dipping sauce.  A charcoal brazier was placed on the table and we were able to cook our own mushroom.

I wasn’t the only person taking photos.  William provides many of the excellent photos that appear on Gary’s blog.  I’ve been thinking about this idea – I should have a crew with me when I’m out.  Someone to take pictures, someone to take notes, while I just savor the experiences and write about them later.  Applications now being accepted!

About this time, Steve had to take off for business.  Sadly, he missed out on a number of great dishes that followed.  Here are homemade tofu fries with a creamy wasabi sauce and a sweet chili sauce.  I’m going to share a secret with you: I think the chili sauce is the same sweet chicken dipping sauce you can buy in large bottles at Asian supermarkets throughout the US.  The tofu, being homemade, was very fresh and the concept of tofu fries is very fun.

We took a distinctly non-Japanese beat with the arrival of a risotto, typical ham and cheese but served from a hollowed out round of Parmesan cheese.  Sadly, they didn’t leave the round at the table, but instead served the risotto and took it back to the kitchen.

The risotto was probably the low point of the savory meal.  It was tasty, maybe a bit gloppy, but it was just risotto.  I didn’t see how it fit into the larger theme of the menu.

Our final savory dish was the takotama.  This is a two-layer omelet with chopped octopus, leeks, red ginger and bonito broth.  It was very geometrically laid out, so I needed pictures from both sides.

The takotama was tasty, although a little sweet.  By this point we were getting quite full and decided to share a dessert.  Japanese restaurants aren’t known for their desserts.  Traditionally, if you want something sweet you’ll head over to a bakery or sweet shop after dinner.  This might explain why the dessert menu was lifted straight from any western restaurant: tarte tartin, creme brulee, molten chocolate cake, etc.

We opted for the molten chocolate cake, which was served on an ice-cold plate.  Good for keeping the ice cream frozen but the cake didn’t feel like it had seen the inside of an oven anytime recently.  In fact, given the soft exterior, I think it was zapped in the microwave.  Not long enough, though, as the interior wasn’t molten by any stretch of the imagination.  Molasses moves faster in a Minnesota winter!

The chocolate cake aside – really, what was I expecting of a chocolate cake ordered at a Japanese restaurant? – the meal was really tasty and surprisingly inexpensive.  Would you believe that the total bill for all of the above plus a large bottle of Japanese beer, was under $80 before gratuity?  A very good value.

Of course, more than anything else, the company was wonderful.  Sorry that Steve wasn’t there to see the meal to its conclusion.  I did enjoy visiting with Gary and William and look forward to our next culinary adventure together.