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The New York Times' Frank Bruni came to Los Angeles, and all he got was pork. Well, that's not entirely true, but he did get a menu's worth of pig-meat when he dined at Animal in West Hollywood, and deemed the restaurant so-so, unless you have a pork fetish:
[It] isn’t a great restaurant, or at least it wasn’t when I tried it. But it’s the epitome of a promiscuously meaty approach to cooking that might well be called the carniwhore school.Bruni recounts the plethora of pork belly on the app menu ("pork belly with kimchi in an Asian preparation" or "house-smoked pork belly with lentils") then noted the pig-plenty on the entrees list ("a pork chop, pork ribs or a pork foot, also known as a trotter"), and even found a little piggy available for dessert (" the house-made bacon chocolate crunch bar"). Other pork names being dropped: "chorizo (with melted Spanish cheese), slab bacon (as an accessory for fried quail), veal sweetbreads, marrow bones or chicken livers," and "foie gras" that "comes on a biscuit that’s doused in maple syrup and gravy, and the gravy includes pork sausage."
Uhh, okay, Bruni. So what's your beef with all this pork?
Politicians are apt to point out pork in legislation, and Bruni seems rather pleased to point out pork in abundance--of course, at a restaurant named Animal, that seems rather the point. Angelenos' recent pork enthusiasm (typically relegated to the bacon category: bacon hot dogs, bacon donuts, bacon chocolate bars, et al) is a bit of a puzzler, since it is a bit odd to embrace the (pork) fat in a city of lean. Maybe that's the adventure Bruni hints (sneers?) at:
The carniwhore school holds that no beast bests the pig in its multifaceted pleasures, that offal shouldn’t be relegated to just one or two dishes on the margins of the main feast, and that if you think something might taste better fried, go ahead and fry it, arteries be damned. What it promotes isn’t so much decadent eating as daredevil eating.He wraps up his review (not in bacon, pancetta, or proscuitto, alas) with some parting thoughts about Animal's young proprietors, the din of the dining room, the winning wine list, some dishes he actually enjoyed, and one piece of pork he was glad he didn't veto. That would be the pork ribs, of which he said: "if you’re going to be pork-selective at Animal, this is the pork to select."
Bruni's other stops were Bazaar, which he dubbed an Outstanding Newcomer, and Glendale's much-lauded Palate Food + Wine, which he then proceeds to butcher today in a blog post called "The Lesser Los Angeles." Bruni had a classic bad experience (and perhaps being a fish out of his own NYC waters was easily unrecognized) and doesn't mind sharing:
The food at Palate — from a menu driven by the greenmarket and characterized by a bevy of salumi and cheese — was as utterly forgettable as the service was memorable.
Devotees of Bruni's assessments may well avoid two of the three places he visited when next they find themselves in our fair city, but in this age of the internet, will his NYT skewering of Palate and Animal affect how we eat out? Meh. Probably not. In the age of Yelp, most people have learned to take high profile critics with a proverbial grain of salt.
And speaking of Yelpers, they have mostly mad love for Animal: "When the Nine Inch Nails wrote, 'I want to fuck you like an Animal,' they must have been thinking of this place," opines one diner. Grrrrrowl! Definitely not something Frank Bruni would say.
Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles (323) 782-9225
Bazaar
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, 465 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles (310) 246-5567
Palate Food + Wine
933 S Brand Blvd, Glendale (818) 662-9463
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I do agree with some of his assessments, especially regarding the fact that Palate is overhyped and it's the only decent restaurant in the area. And that bazaar is great but not four stars. And Animal...it's hard to dislike them/their food. The stories of the service do sound pretty normal for LA though...which are usually "nightmare" experiences in nyc
What the heck do you mean Palate is the only decent restaurant in Glendale? They've got a freaking Olive Garden.
He's racialist against Bacon.
Bruni usually has spot-on taste for restaurants, and generally seems to be more in touch and interested in what is going on in the rest of the world than NYtimes section writers tend to be.
While I have not eaten at either establishments he rails in his reviews, it wold not surprise me if it were true. LA restaurants generally fall within two categories: novelty & green/quality ingrediants; and generally fails in both by hitting their categorical aim on spot, but failing everywhere else.
I have been to a handful of these places and I agree. It does not matter how much your menu sticks to the theme or how great your ingredients are, if you do not focus on other key aspects, including general quality, dish quality, preparation quality, innovation, ambiance, selection; you generally fail.
Yet those categories somehow blind locals into ignoring at all other aspects. While often found myself underwhelmed, those accompanying me seemed to love it, always defending it by pointing out, "But ingredients!" or "I think it's fun!"
In all, I do not think that Frank Bruni is wrong in his assessment, I just think that Angelenos, taking it as an outsider opinion, do not care. And I'm ok with that.
reminds me of something David Chang(of momofuku fame) said, somewhat of a backhanded compliment (in an interview with huffington post):
LM: You've traveled extensively and worked in other areas, what is your favorite city or region for food?
DC: New York. When you're in Paris -- which is awesome -- what you're going to eat is French food. In Tokyo, all you're going to eat is Japanese food. In New York, you can get the best of everything. In Tokyo, there are many restaurants I want to go to, but unfortunately, I don't have the budget. Los Angeles should be the culinary capital of the world -- they have the most amazing produce and so much access to great, beautiful food. We would kill to have what they have."
While I quite enjoyed my Momofuku trip, it seemed more hip and hype than style.