Saturday, December 06, 2008

The Little Door, mon amour

I'm kinda crazy about The Little Door (8164 3rd Street, Los Angeles) which we dined at last night. We hadn't been there for ages, but I still dream about their Moroccan green salad, fat with cilantro, preserved lemon & sweet onion. Yesterday I had the trio of roast beets with Moroccan greens followed by a lamb shank tajine. Matti & Lynn, my veggie friends, had the roast vegetable tajine with couscous & harissa, and I stole from both of their plates. It's expensive, yes, but the food is so homey, and the patio is half-exposed to the sky, lit with hundreds of candles, and full of cozy tables and fat-cushioned sofas and people speaking French. It doesn't have an LA vibe. It's decadent, in a really good way. And it was a Friday night and everyone was winding down from the terrible week in Hollywood (lay-offs at Paramount and Universal and the trades, and more...) It's not quaker, or proper, or Pasadena. It's Casablanca or Paris, smokey and relaxed. Our waiter looked like Mark Ruffalo, which made me very happy & our dining companions were charming - an actor, a singer, an artist, a dancer. Old friends were having a drink at the bar. Like a small village, we bumped into all sorts of people we knew. Rather nice that, in big old LA. I've been scouring the web for recipes. As soon as I find some I shall post them.

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