Organic food is all the rage on L.A.’s dining out scene and a health-conscious City Council is talking about a ban on trans fat.
But a backlash may be budding.
A number of new restaurants are catering to diners determined to treat themselves with tasty and nearly over-the-top dishes calories, oils and fats be damned.
There is fried pork belly at Opus Restaurant, cream puffs from Beard Papa Sweets Caf & #233; and glazed red velvet doughnuts from Frittelli’s Doughnuts and Coffee in Beverly Hills.
“It’s a paradox that the more people who are concerned about their nutrition and the ingredients in their food, the more they seem to be interested in indulgences like cream puffs and Pinkberry,” said Pat Saperstein, who writes the restaurant blog “Eating LA.”
“I’m very concerned about what I eat,” she said, “about 80 percent of the time. And the rest of the time, I eat whatever I want to.”
Indeed, a good number of diners seem to be thumbing their noses at the establishment.
“I think there’s a wear-out of being told what to eat,” said Ron Paul, president of food industry research firm Technomic Inc. “People are saying, stop already.”
At the Innovative Dining Group’s BOA Steakhouses in Santa Monica and Hollywood, patrons can start with wagyu, the super-fatty Japanese beef that only recently got FDA approval, or foie gras, and order hand-cut fries to go with their steak drizzled in melted truffle cheese. (On the other hand, that same customer could order an organic steak and farmer’s market vegetables.)
“I think everybody is starting to realize there is a place and time for everything,” said Brent Berkowitz, BOA’s general manager. “I think diners in L.A. are becoming a little more educated in their palates and I think they’re OK with having a steak or foie gras if they know they can have sushi or a salad tomorrow.”
Josef Centano, chef at Opus Restaurant in Mid-Wilshire, said it’s all about flavor. He uses pork bellies (fried, salted pig stomachs, which are essentially bacon before curing) and sweetbreads (the neck or pancreas of a young lamb or calf) in tasting menus. His nightly dinner menu features braised short ribs and slow-cooked pork shoulders, along with the sesame-crusted ahi.
“We’re trying to expose people to ingredients,” Centano said.
Beyond Beef
High-end steakhouses seem impervious to heightened health consciousness.
Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc. recently opened locations in San Diego and Anaheim, and announced that a Woodland Hills locale is coming this summer.
Morton’s Chief Executive Thomas J. Baldwin said his company is “actively scouting additional locations.” Morton’s currently has eight locations in Southern California.
But it’s not just about filet mignon anymore, says Saperstein. She pointed to a number of popular burger joints, including Lucky Devils and 25 Degrees in Hollywood, Oinkster in Eagle Rock and the Counter in Santa Monica.
“I think there’s a big interest in comfort food,” she said. “You’re seeing a lot of gourmet burger places with indulgent milkshakes, special French fries, the type of thing that kind of appeals to a nostalgic desire for traditional American foods.”
That would fit a theory of Technomics’ Paul, who believes that Americans tend to drink more and eat more indulgently when they’re under extra stress.
“Who wants to stay home and hear about how many people were killed in Iraq?” he asked. “People are saying they’d rather go out to eat.”
The extravagant dessert business is also going gangbusters. Just as it seemed the Sprinkles cupcake craze might be dying down, Frittelli’s gourmet doughnuts and coffee shop arrived in Beverly Hills. The designer treats boast such ingredients as “Tahitian vanilla” and “artisan chocolate.” The shop sells mocha cake doughnuts with chocolate glaze and toasted almonds, for instance.
Another beneficiary of consumers’ seemingly burgeoning sweet tooth is Muginoho USA Inc.’s Papa Beard Sweets Caf & #233;. The company currently has 22 locations, but expects to open about 15 more by the end of the year just in California.
Muginoho Chief Operating Officer Craig Takiguchi said the firm, which started offering franchises about 18 months ago, now gets about 40 applications every week.
Takiguchi, who worked at Yum Brands Inc.’s Taco Bell when it was owned by PepsiCo Inc., said that his most popular items, choux pastries, are packed with rich ingredients that are imported from France.
Real food
Whether it is a trend or not, it’s clear there will always be a meat-and-potatoes dining constituency that isn’t counting calories at least when it comes to dining out.
“I’ve bought organic produce at the grocery store,” said Thomas Wasper, president of Long Beach-based Internet firm SelfishCauses.com, “but I’ve never eaten at one of those places that hits you over the head with their ‘organic-ness.’
“I think those types of places push the healthiness, since that’s all they’ve really got, rather than the tastiness of their food,” he said.
Paul put it a different way, “The trend toward eating healthy, with regard to restaurants, is still more talk that action. Those who are really concerned about healthy eating,” he said, “eat at home.”
