Heyo!
I hope everybody had a great Valentine’s Day last week. I ended up hugging my mechanic, Walter, after he changed my brakes. Walter has been servicing my car in Los Angeles for 7 years now, and this is the last time I’ll have the honor of him doing so. After I paid, we said goodbye, dapped each other up, and then I brought him in for a hug. He was caught off guard, and I don’t think he cared for the hug all that much, but deep down we both needed it. Goodbye Walter, I’ll miss your fair prices and greasy hands.
I keep saying to myself that I want to Irish goodbye this whole city, but if I’m already hugging my god damn mechanic, the next two weeks are about to get very emotional. Fuck.
When people ask me about my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles, it’s hard to respond fairly.
I’m just biased, man. I got to know some of these people and see how beautiful they are. When I walk into Ceci’s or Loupiotte and am greeted warmly by the owners, I can’t help but feel like I’m dining at a friend’s house. Still, I recommend these places because I know that you’ll be greeted the same way. When I say what my absolute favorite restaurants are, it’s always the places that feel like home, and I want you to feel at home, too.
Unpretentious, off-center, quaint, friendly restaurants that serve consistently comforting food. That’s what I’m looking for in a favorite restaurant. I’m on my tour of revisiting some of the best, and here’s some hot tips for two.
Poltergeist still rips.
I made a point to take two of my friends back to Echo Park to play some arcade games at Button Mash and eat at Poltergeist. I wrote about it last year (which you can read here if you’re a paid subscriber!), but Poltergeist is without a doubt one of my favorite meals in Los Angeles. Why? Because it’s fucking fun, man. Take the unexpected, towering Thai caesar salad made with frisée ($16). It’s fragrant with Thai basil and lemongrass, and it also swaps regular anchovies for smoked. The flavor is mouth-smacking, meaty and funky. It comes served with lofty puffed rice croutons that make people giddy as it arrives to the table.
My other big recommendation for Poltergeist is the beef & broccoli ravioli ($25). The combination of dark soy sauce, brown butter, and fried onions will haunt your taste buds. The panang lamb neck is also a damn stunner, and make sure to try any special they have that night. Last week Diego served up some garlic confit duck legs with a load of herbs (there’s always a pile of herbs at Poltergeist hell yeah), plus capers, persimmon, and a billion other flavors.
Exciting, fun, and aggressive are three words I’d use to describe Poltergeist. It’s just people having fun with food. And not in some forced, pretentious way. If at any point you see the Thai caesar salad and go, “ooh-la-la, fancy!” The cling-clang of an air hockey puck nearby will assuage your cynicism. Just enjoy the ride. After dinner, my friend Daniel said, “I feel like my dreams are going to be weird tonight.”
Ceci’s Has Brought Back a Phenomenal Dish
More than any other restaurant in Los Angeles, I will miss Ceci’s Gastronomia. It’s become a weekly spot for me to grab morning coffee and focaccia. Francesco and Francesca are lovely human beings, and their diverse catalogue of real Italian recipes made with love are unmatched.
Recently, they opened for dinner service, which runs Thursday-Sunday from 5pm to 9pm. To commemorate this change, they brought back one of my favorite foods in the whole dang city, the focaccia tipo Recco.
Focaccia di Recco is an all-too-rare unleavened focaccia bread made with Manitoba flour and stuffed with stretchy stracchino cheese. In Italian, di means of or from, so this is Focaccia from Recco (a commune in the city of Genoa.) However, what I gather about Italians is that they are very protective and honorable when it comes to their food, so at Ceci’s, it’s instead called focaccia tipo Recco. Tipo meaning “like” or “in the style of.” No matter how close this focaccia is to Recco’s version, by definition it can never be the same thing. The details matter when it comes to true Italian food, and at Ceci’s they are all about the tasty, delicious details.
The tipo Recco is gorgeous. It’s a thin, unleavened style of focaccia that’s crispy, crunchy, airy, and thin. The stracchino, which is typical of Liguria, is tart and even a tad sour. Your mouth immediately salivates upon eating it. The traditional version ($22) is delightfully simple, tasty, and straightforward. Indulge in the focaccia’s peculiar texture and delicious cheese. From there, the menu includes a ton of other toppings like pesto ($25) mushrooms and ham ($26.50) and even prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano, and arugula ($27). I ordered the latter, and look at this thing oooooh wee.
The tipo Reccos are quite big, so you can expect to share one of these with a friend, which really puts you spending between $11-$15. Not bad. Think of this like a big ol’ pizza. Previously, you had to follow Ceci’s Instagram page and be on high alert to when the focaccia tipo Recco would be available on special. Now it’s available 4 days a week. That’s a huge deal. It’s one of the best items Ceci’s has to offer, and it serves as a wonderful introduction to the style of comforting, regional, real Italian food they produce so lovingly.
Ceci’s forever. I’ll miss it dearly.
Thanks for reading The Move! I might be on a weekly basis here until I move. I had 30 orders of pasta yesterday (yikes!) and I’m rather busy until I hit the road. If you’re a paid subscriber hoping for exclusive content, I apologize. I’ll be back pumping that out soon! Thanks so much!
Love Loupiotte and Cecis, but Poltergeist is one of the worst restaurants I've ever eaten at. I had he Parker house roll and lamb neck and didn't finish either. I legitimately don't understand the praise for this place, and yet everyone I know does. It's baffling to me.