Street: LA's trip to Latin culinary culture
Street food goes gourmet at LA's Street restaurant, which opened a year ago under the knowing eye of chow guru Susan Fenigar. Foodies may know her as one of the Two Hot Tamales (among with Mary Sue Milliken) who opened Border Grill in Santa Monica in 1990 and reframed South-of-the-Border fare forever more.
At Street, Feniger has taken foods from the dusty avenues and dirty alleyways of South Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe and elevated them into delicious finger meals of exotic tastes and creative concepts that ensure a meal unlike anything else out there coming to a table in an A–rated establishment.
Décor is not the fancy kind. It’s just a smallish room, ignited by line-drawn street people scenes and looking out onto a sunny LA patio where customers can dine, slightly away from the street in peaceful outdoor air. But caveat emptor: everything that is ordered here bursts with interesting flavors that invite questions of what, where and how.
Lunches, brunches and dinners are done here more or less tapas style in plates made for sharing. The menu comes characterized by shape and food type rather than course: Tea Cakes & Dumplings; Fresh and Raw; Vegetables and Grains; Noodle Soups & Curries; and Carving Table. Choices range in price from $6 to $27, all offering a dish that originated some place other than Main Street USA.
Find such unusual options as Kaya Toast from Singapore, made with thick coconut jam that is smothered by a fried egg seasoned with soy and white pepper. Or the Spinach Varenyky dumplings from the Ukraine, filled with a boiled and then pan-fried concoction of spinach, salted cheese and fried onions with sour cream and lemon marmalade.
Fresh & Raw includes an irresistible Burmese presentation of lentils, toasted coconut, peanuts, fried onion and ginger/sesame in fresh lettuce leaves. In the veggie section are the fried plantains with sweet Sri Lankan chiles, coconut chutney and curry leaves. Noodle dishes hail from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand as well as the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Louisiana Bayou.
The Carving Table takes plate prices into the $20-$30 range with such rarities as Peking Quail that has been glazed in honey, seasoned with Chinese spices and served with tea steeped in prunes and chestnut rice. You can also get Tenderloin Schnitzel here and a treat of Hawaiian Pork slow roasted in banana leaves in a tangy marinade with all the usual island fixings.
Street is in a neighborhood that has a local following, as it was once a popular coffee house for artists and writers and is located just down the street from the Hollywood Bowl and around the corner from a variety of backlot studios.
HelloMetro Tip: Street's website is nothing short of awesome. Easy to navigate, bold, full of detail and delicious creativity, a thorough web tour of the restaurant is a treat for the eyes before the premier restaurant visit.
Posted by Lark Ellen Gould
