Sunday Smorgasburg

An all-you-can-eat was called smorgasbord when I was still the budding foodie in an apple haircut (or was it a mushroom?). The word became passé and buffet was in. That was in the Philippines.

Fast forward to today, I meet Smorgasburg in Downtown Los Angeles, an offshoot of the once a week open-air food market in New York, Smorgasburg, dubbed the Woodstock of eating by the NY Times.

Smorgasburg LA, which likewise attracts loads and loads of foodies, is a mammoth market at the back of the now defunct American Apparel headquarters, open on Sundays only since 2016. Under the Cali sunshine, it’s impossible to meet all the passionate artisans, crafters, chefs, visionaries, future entrepreneurs, fellow food lovers from all walks of life and ages.

So on my first Smorgasburg adventure, I had lobster from Lobsterdamus, and Ericke had Hawaiian shrimps from Shrimp Daddy.

The garlic noodles that came with my grilled lobster with Cajun butter sauce was supergood, tasting exactly like the “anemic” pancit in Ilocos. If I go back again to Smorgasburg, I’m going to get the same noodles, noodles only for 6 bucks, everything planted in my head!

I’ve already heard good things about Ensaymada Project, but never had one. I intended to try the bestselling ube, but was sold out. Queso de bola made me forget the slight dismay.

We bought more than a dozen. Quezo de bola and classic cheese with beautiful texture, were so good. I don’t like fancy ensaymada so much, but the salted caramel and mocha nutella, especially when warmed, were really nice with coffee.

Seeing a kababayan in a muticultural locale enlivened me because a lovely dimension of the Filipino food culture gets represented. The next natural thing to do, a photo with owner Chari Heredia-Reyes, a pretty and pleasant lady who happens to be related to the Savellanos of Ilocos Sur.

When in LA, Smorgasburg is the place to be for a single-day food exploration. All in all, there are 65 vendors. There’s beer at the bar and the ice cream alley is worth checking out. Don’t forget!

Till my next post. Bye.

Photos by Tina Tan COPYRIGHT © BLAUEARTH™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Rice Bar to love in LA

There’s no place like home, but with no lola or nanay or hubby’s cooking to come home to, Rice Bar is home to me. And Chef Charles Olalia makes pancit luglug and longaniza (the hamonado kind) so much better than anyone else I know. And on my most recent visit, Vigan longaniza (in top photo) and pancit devil eggs were so new on the menu.

At the high point of its popularity, Filipino cooking in LA gets more and more powerful, and Rice Bar is one of the few innovative ones who has successfully defined Filipino food with just a handful of dishes on the menu. There will always be pancit, lumpia and adobo anywhere else, but Rice Bar has also other things like tinola is unexpectedly a bestseller, and the longaniza rice bowl is so good that I had two the first time, and buko ice candy for dessert? That’s so brilliant.

Pancit devil eggs taste so much like palabok with a zing of lemon.

If you happen to be in Downtown LA, Rice Bar is located on 7th Street. The space is tight and I liken it to a carinderia, but that’s part of Rice Bar’s appeal.

Just like home.

Photographed by Blauearth COPYRIGHT © BLAUEARTH™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED