South of the Border

In my quest for the best chile rellenos in the city, I tend to patronize small, authentic (some not as much as others) Mexican restaurants. I visited Mexico for dinner - the brand new restaurant in heart of West Hollywood. The chile rellenos were great with a rare smoky flavor from the wood-burning oven in the kitchen.

The service was really a treat. Visitors could feel that the wait staff had gelled perfectly and all employees were happy employees. At one point, I caught the manager dancing to the contemporary Mexican music playing on the stereo. While some Mexican restaurants go for kitchy, Mexico went for a fun, vibrant atmosphere. The pink, turquoise and orange decor seemed a little much at first, but as the sun went down the candles made everyone glow (good for a date or after dinner drink). If I had to critique one thing, my date ordered skirt steak (really yummy) and wasn't given a steak knife - but it really was tender enough to simply pull apart.



For Doors fans, the restaurant is housed in the same building in which LA Woman was recorded - in the bathroom actually.

Mexico
8512 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.289.0088
http://www.gogomexico.com/index.html

Happy Anniversary, Gordon Ramsay

The London-West Hollywood threw a one-year anniversary party for the Gordon Ramsay, and the chef who lent his name to the restaurant. The hostesses (there were four of them) were very welcoming and eager to show me to the reception. I would have liked to have not seen the guest list, but one of the hostesses was highlighting arrivals on a piece of paper on top, rather than behind the stand. The reception was held in the bar and sunroom of the restaurant - I entered the reception into the bar, which was like an up-scale English pub, lots of wood and dark lighting, then I entered the sunroom with great views of the city.

The restaurant offerred complimentary champagne and cocktails (FYI: my invitation noted that all dinner guests will recieve a complimentary glass of champagne throughout the month of June). I ordered the English Rose cocktail and started looking for the food. The servers were friendly and circulating nicely with appetizer options. I was surprised to see Gordon at the event, also circulating nicely.

The appetizers were vaguely disappointing. Lamb burgers, temperate and slightly dry. Chocolate cake, as heavy as a brick. Crispy ham on flatbread with balsamic glaze, warm and satisfying. Shrimp with cherry gazphaco, different and refreshing. Tiramisu, light with a nice coffee end-note. Panna cotta with caviar, one bite and a glup of my cocktail.

While the restaurant was sold to the LXR Luxury Resorts in March by Gordon Ramsay Holdings, it was nice to see that the restaurant was still operating in coordination with the chef. But one has to wonder whether the restaurant and hotel are floundering in the luxury boutique hotel market.

Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood
1020 N. San Vincente Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.358.7788
http://www.gordonramsay.com/gratthelondonwh/

If It Smells Like Urine, GET OUT!

Last week I was in our nation's capitol for work. I had previously lived there for two years before moving to Los Angeles several months ago. Mostly things have remained the same - the same poilitical junkies, the same Hill issues, the same food. DC has been slowly evolving into a culinary city, but it is taking its sweet time - I guess that's just how things move south of the Mason-Dixon line. I hit a couple of my favorites on the Hill.

I met up with friends at the new Matchbox location for pizza and sliders (because that's what you get at Matchbox - anything else is a waste of time). The new venue had the same decor as it's older brother in Chinatown, but they have solved the noise-level issues, added sidewalk seating and large french doors. The open feeling is a welcome offset to the industrial brick and metal piping, but I can't imagine will be open much after the first heat and humidity wave hits the city. Our server seemed overwhelmed by our large party, and was very concerned that she was forgetting something. She thought our table was too easy for such a large group - give us food and beer and we become pretty easy going. She was sweet, but not a professional server.

I grabbed lunch at Good Stuff Eatery. The opening of this restaurant created quite a stir with Hill staffers when it opened about nine months ago - it could have been a prayer answered for a new lunch spot or could have been it's famous chef/restaurantuer, Spike from Top Chef, Season 4. After the crush of curious onlookers, the lunch business remained steady. There was a continuous stream of patrons, but the only difference was the much more efficient behind the counter staff. The grill and cashier system moved quickly, which prevented the lines once seen down the block.

One other thing that hasn't changed was the terrible taxi system in DC. My colleague and I had our concierge call a cab service for us, so we could pay with credit card (I would say about 10 cabs in the city have the ability to pay by credit card). Well, it was about 20 minutes late, smelled like the SW fish market (later I learned it was a musty urine smell) and the credit card machine didn't accept three different cards. Earl gave us a little attitude when we suggested it was his credit card machine, not our corporate cards. Well, I directed him to an ATM in L'Efant Plaza, because he didn't know where it was - thank goodness I lived in the city for two years - got cash and sat in traffic that we desperately tried to avoid. We finally made it to Dulles with 15 minutes to spare before our flight. To top it all off - my colleague then informed me that while I was getting cash that Earl urinated in a bottle, poured it out the window, sealed it and put it in the passenger's seat. My lesson - wait for another cab if it smells like urine!

Matchbox - Capitol Hill
521 8th St., SE
Washington, DC 20003
202.548.0369
http://www.matchboxdc.com/capitolhill.shtml

Good Stuff Eatery
303 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20003
202.543.8222
http://goodstuffeatery.com