Saturday, August 09, 2003
LA Food Show
Manhattan Village Mall
Manhattan Beach, CA
The LA Food Show is a spin-off of the hugely successful California Pizza Kitchen chain. What I like about CPK is its trademark yellow/black/white crispness and the tasty trademarked chopped salads and BBQ chicken pizzas. You do know that CPK invented the hugely successful BBQ chicken pizza, didn’t you? But can the LA Food Show be equally successful?
The dramatic space blends Pacific Rim zen with industrial strength open kitchen and exposed pipes. Gutsy red – an appetite stimulator and energy booster – reigns as the most prominent color. Built-in televisions abound tuned in to ESPN and FoodTV even in the restrooms.
What’s on the menu? A bit of this and that perhaps simulating what’s popular in the LA food culture. There’s a tribute to Roscoe’s House of Waffles with a huge plate of waffles, fried chicken, and gravy. The cowboy steak salad (a favorite from the Cadillac Café) overflowed with greens and things and a hunking piece of still sizzling steak.
We were quite disappointed in the Poke Martini. Although on paper it sounds divine, the martini glass is not the correct serving vessel. Rare ahi tuna, shrimp, and scallops, and a bit of shredded cabbage and avocado bits were placed into a martini glass and then doused with what was supposed to be Pacific Rim vinaigrette. The concept again sounds refreshing and appealing but the vinaigrette lay lifeless at the bottom and by trying to mix it up to meld the flavors with the ingredients upset the entire presentation as there was no room for mixing; so much for presentation. Alas, the dressing of sorts was tasteless. It needed a good jolt of ginger or more intensity overall.
I liked the pulled pork sandwich but the sauce was a tad sweeter than necessary. It was served with quite decent fries. Our favorite item was the chile relleno wontons, a complexity of flavors and textures.
Portions tend to be supersized except for the appetizers. Desserts seemed uninspiring so we passed. Their house specialty lemonade tasted like water. I asked the waiter to replace it with iced tea and he said, “Oh, it’s not sweet enough for you?” I reiterated that it was tasted like water and had no taste at all. If I closed my eyes, I would be hard pressed to know it was lemonade. When we got the bill, the drinks were removed which I guess is a nice gesture considering that iced teas are $1.95.
Is the LA Food Show going to be successful in Miami and Chicago? Hmm, that’s too soon to tell because first they have to buoy their success in good old L.A.
Manhattan Village Mall
Manhattan Beach, CA
The LA Food Show is a spin-off of the hugely successful California Pizza Kitchen chain. What I like about CPK is its trademark yellow/black/white crispness and the tasty trademarked chopped salads and BBQ chicken pizzas. You do know that CPK invented the hugely successful BBQ chicken pizza, didn’t you? But can the LA Food Show be equally successful?
The dramatic space blends Pacific Rim zen with industrial strength open kitchen and exposed pipes. Gutsy red – an appetite stimulator and energy booster – reigns as the most prominent color. Built-in televisions abound tuned in to ESPN and FoodTV even in the restrooms.
What’s on the menu? A bit of this and that perhaps simulating what’s popular in the LA food culture. There’s a tribute to Roscoe’s House of Waffles with a huge plate of waffles, fried chicken, and gravy. The cowboy steak salad (a favorite from the Cadillac Café) overflowed with greens and things and a hunking piece of still sizzling steak.
We were quite disappointed in the Poke Martini. Although on paper it sounds divine, the martini glass is not the correct serving vessel. Rare ahi tuna, shrimp, and scallops, and a bit of shredded cabbage and avocado bits were placed into a martini glass and then doused with what was supposed to be Pacific Rim vinaigrette. The concept again sounds refreshing and appealing but the vinaigrette lay lifeless at the bottom and by trying to mix it up to meld the flavors with the ingredients upset the entire presentation as there was no room for mixing; so much for presentation. Alas, the dressing of sorts was tasteless. It needed a good jolt of ginger or more intensity overall.
I liked the pulled pork sandwich but the sauce was a tad sweeter than necessary. It was served with quite decent fries. Our favorite item was the chile relleno wontons, a complexity of flavors and textures.
Portions tend to be supersized except for the appetizers. Desserts seemed uninspiring so we passed. Their house specialty lemonade tasted like water. I asked the waiter to replace it with iced tea and he said, “Oh, it’s not sweet enough for you?” I reiterated that it was tasted like water and had no taste at all. If I closed my eyes, I would be hard pressed to know it was lemonade. When we got the bill, the drinks were removed which I guess is a nice gesture considering that iced teas are $1.95.
Is the LA Food Show going to be successful in Miami and Chicago? Hmm, that’s too soon to tell because first they have to buoy their success in good old L.A.
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