A Cool Chef’s Perfect Summer Weekend In LA
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FRIDAY
My perfect Friday always starts with coffee with a friend or colleague at Canyon Coffee in Echo Park. My friend Ally owns it, and it is quite literally the hub of the community. We call it Friday morning 'church'. After that, I pop over to Courage Bagels in Virgil Village for an early lunch. These are the best bagels you will ever eat, period. I then head back home to get some work done, usually wrapping up some last bits of recipe development for the week or filming some user-generated content for some of my clients.
In the summer, I usually finish work early. Who am I kidding? Everyone in LA is a freelancer, so we make our own schedule but seriously, my husband and I will usually clock off around 4pm and meet in the garden for an afternoon swim, perhaps a cheeky glass of wine, then get ready for Friday date night.
Date night always includes at least one cocktail, usually at Capri Club in Eagle Rock. My drink of choice is usually a either a gin cosmo, a dirty gin martini or a spicy mezcal margarita. After that, we head back over to Highland Park (our neighbourhood) and go to Sam's Place, a natural wine bar that has a small but mighty food menu. We order everything to share but always get the charred sweet potatoes with whipped tahini and the bar steak.
The night usually ends with a night cap at the Arroyo Club. Then we either walk home if we’re not too tired or – as it's LA – we’ll most likely grab an Uber.
SATURDAY
Saturday usually begins with a trip to the gym for a quick 30-minute incline walk on the treadmill, and some light weights. If not, I will meet a friend for an early morning hike. I really like Griffith Park.
I'll grab a coffee on the way home from Alfred Coffee or if I want food too, I’ll pop into Civil for the best breakfast tacos in town. Highland Park is a predominantly Latino/Hispanic neighbourhood, so there is great Mexican food on every corner. You really can't go wrong.
My husband and I will usually meet friends for lunch at Queen Raw Bar in Eagle Rock or Manuela in DLTA. Wherever we meet, oysters have to be devoured on a Saturday – it's a non-negotiable.
We'll spend the rest of the day pottering on the east side and will always end the afternoon with a mini grocery shop to pick up a few things for dinner that night. I eat very simply in the week, even as a chef. I love fish or chicken most nights, with a ton of veggies or salad. But on Saturday night, we bring the big guns out. My husband and I love to cook dinner together on Saturday evenings, usually with some jazz playing and the back doors wide open so we can hear the cicadas.
Dinner might be a steak with au poivre sauce, or recently we have been loving tuna or swordfish with a ponzu au poivre sauce. So incredibly delicious. We might also make a pasta with a simple sauce, and perhaps a little hamachi crudo to start too. Mussels and clams are my favourite foods in the world, so those are usually somewhere on the menu too. We don't usually drink wine at home but my husband might shake up a martini for us while we are prepping dinner. We end the night with a movie on the couch and some dark chocolate for dessert.
SUNDAY
I wake up early on a Sunday and head to the farmers’ market. Depending on what jobs I have on that week, I’ll go to the Hollywood farmers’ market if I am shopping for a larger project, or if it’s more for me, I’ll head to Atwater farmers’ market. I know all my farmers at Atwater and can breeze through pretty quickly. Lunch is always a tamale from my tamale guy, always with the green hot sauce. Right now, it’s stone fruit season and you haven't lived until you have tried a green plum from the farmers’ market.
Next, I might meet a friend for coffee or run some errands. Then I head home to put everything away and will most likely head out into my garden for a little swim and pick up whatever book I am currently reading. Right now, I’m re-reading Claudia Roden’s A Book of Middle Eastern Food. She is one of my absolute favourite food writers, and I take so much inspiration from her recipes too. I'm a creature of habit with my cookbooks. I like any Alison Roman cookbook, anything by Claudia Roden or Diana Kennedy. Towpath is my go-to, as is anything by Alice Waters, Nigel Slater or Rick Stein.
My husband always cooks on a Sunday, it's his ritual. No matter what the season, he will always make some version of a roast. At the moment, because it's so hot here, it's usually a roast chicken with roast potatoes and some green beans. Something simple. In the winter we will go all out, with all the accoutrements and sides. Even though we have lived in the US for over ten years now, our Sunday roast mentality has never left us. We will maybe watch some TV, then it’s usually an early night, ready for a busy week of work ahead.
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