Dancing on My Table

I’m writing this from one of my favourite hotels, Loews, Santa Monica Beach, California. I love it because the hotel is so airy and spacious with gorgeous tall palm trees growing in the centre of the lobby, and the atmosphere is so casual and summery, which is a relief when you’ve flown 12 hours from New Zealand and left a squally spring behind. I’m able to open my windows onto a balcony and can see the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean. Life ain’t so bad.

Last night I ate at Josie’s Restaurant at 2424 Pico Boulevard (tel 310 581-9888). I was stood up. My friend coming from the east cape got delayed by fog, so I was on my own. Rather than eat inhouse I decided to keep the reservation we’d made at Josie’s so went off alone. I felt fine, not awkward, although I sensed that everyone, wait staff included, wondered what the hell I was doing there eating alone amongst lovers and couples, families and friends. It’s a weird feeling when you realize that everyone is feeling way more awkward than you are, and that they expect you are feeling awkward. But I just ordered, ate, talked to my inner self, paid the bill and caught a cab home. Anyway, I liked the two things I had, with reservations, both appetizers: a watermelon salad with a little fresh cilantro (coriander) and slivers of pickled red onion and three fat crispy crunchy pieces of pork belly.

Then a small quail, bacon-wrapped (it was a piggy kind of night!) which was cooked to perfection, pinkish tender flesh with little cubes of what seemed like parsnip and baby florets of cauliflower, mushrooms, tiny diced pumpkin and single Brussels sprout leaves with a thyme jus. There was plenty of flavour and nice textural contrasts but both dishes were too sweet for my taste, but then, I don’t have the American preference for sweet flavours in savoury dishes. A good squirt of lime juice on the watermelon would have lifted it out of the ordinary into the extraordinary, and would have made a fresh counterpoint to the rich salty pork, and if the quail jus had been less syrupy more flavours would have come through from the other ingredients. Of course, that’s just one view…

We’re off somewhere different tonight, then on to the Big Apple tomorrow.