I’ve been in El Segundo a lot over the past couple years. If people think of El Segundo at all, it’s usually as that area of LA just south of the airport. That’s good because it keeps the area crowd-free, but that’s bad because it’s one of the most comfortable neighborhoods in LA. It’s a beach town with a wide, clean beach and plenty of BBQ pits, but the town is mostly oriented inland. Unlike Manhattan Beach and Venice, El Segundo’s Main Street is completely apart from the beach.  It’s lined with cute, non-chain boutiques, service shops, coffee shops, and little restaurants. The rest of El Segundo is mostly residential, with a lot of families who actually spend time outside in their yards and walking around. Apparently, at about 5pm on weekdays, the sidewalks of Main St are packed with locals walking about, and its streets are relatively empty of cars… which is almost unheard of in LA. All the same, there’s plenty of free parking if you do need it.

El Segundo makes me feel like I’m in a home town (and not only because its stately high school is frequently used in films set in cute home towns). Only the big Chevron plant on the water tarnishes the small town charm, but even that lends a Simpsons-esque air. So, it’s not a place that you would necessarily make plans to visit, but if you know locals who want to hang out locally, be prepared for a good time.

Its restaurants and bakeries don’t have much of a presence in the LA food scene, but for the most part, they have a great value and …um, how do I say this?…. are full of real people (no bling, no attitude). The street behind Main Street — Richmond Street — is a smaller, funkier version of it that probably has the highest concentration of interesting places to go in LA in a two block area. It has the Old Town Music Hall, a reliable and healthy CA-style cafe called Good Stuff, the timeless Richmond Bar & Grill, an slightly upscale Second City Bistro, a surf shop, and a fun tiki bar called The Purple Orchid that’s one of my favorite bars in LA, which I’ll talk about more later.

One of the more interesting recent additions to Main Street has been Farm Stand, which stands out as rather chic against the backdrop of traditional sushi bars and casual eateries in the area. It calls itself an urban country restaurant.  Chad and I checked it out a few weeks ago. I think it’s still finding its footing, but it seems to be going for American-Middle Eastern-Italian cuisine. Not fusion, just dishes that represent. But not necessarily by name. Both dishes that we ordered were given descriptive names that skirted their culinary origins. That’s probably a good idea, because it probably makes the dishes more accessible for people unfamiliar — and uneasy — with mysterious dishes. After reading her new cookbook this weekend, Cindy Pawlcyn sometimes has the same strategy.

We’ll definitely go back, and I’m interested to see how it develops, especially as it adjusts to demand and its own style.  I really liked being there — its open design makes it very welcoming, and an open kitchen is always a treat.  The service was maybe a little too eager and friendly, but it’s hard to complain about that.

Mama’s Herbed Ground Beef — Our Signature Family Dish — with a Rice Pilaf of Lentils, Dates, Raisins, & Roasted Vegetables. I believe that this could be called kofta… A perfect kofta amid a playground of fascinating things to eat. That roasted tomato was so soft and deep with flavor, while the dried ground everything in sweetness and chewiness, the pico de gallo (or so it looked) mixed things up again with crisp onions and garlic amid the perky herb tomatoes that contrasted so nicely with the roasted tomato. It’s a fun dish to eat, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

While Chad explored this playground, I played tag… With this…

And this…

Walnut and Pomegranate Stew: Baked Chicken with Walnut & Pomegranate Puree with Basmati Saffron Rice. I would have called it fesenjan, and I’m always thrilled when I find it. But I think it’s like meatloaf — everyone does it a slightly different way; and my friend’s mother makes what I consider to be the seminal version for me. This version was heavy on the pomegranate molasses, so it was rather sour and yet syrupy sweet, and the saffron basmati rice did little to adjust the flavor or texture. I prefer the sauce to be heavier on the walnut so that it’s a bit lighter and creamier. It was okay (and actually, the chicken itself was juicy and tasty), but in comparison to the ground beef dish, it got a bit boring. Perhaps not as many things could be added to it as easily as to ground beef dish, but it needed something more to maintain attention to it.

We ordered the After School Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies with Milk for dessert. I think that the way they did it was to partially bake the cookies, and either keep them warm or heat them more to order. Chad liked them well enough, but they had unappealing oily spots in the center and the chocolate chips had that scorched flavor that pops up when they’re fresh from the oven. Oddly enough, I was smitten by the milk — when was the last time I had a glass of whole milk? Of course, it was like cream to me now, but hey, I like cream… so this was more like lowfat cream than high fat milk.

I also wanted to mention The Purple Orchid, which is a fantastic tiki bar in El Segundo. The drinks are consistently great (which is so rare at any bar), and unlike the occasional drama at Tiki-Ti in Silverlake (which is, also, very good nonetheless), it’s very laidback, full of locals who happen to like hanging out in a Hawaiian bar.

The Volcano Bowl is fun for a group.  We got it with their retro Mai Tai, and I think they usually light the middle part.  Other stand out drinks include the Rum Swizzle, which balances its sourness with spicy cinnamon, and the Purple Orchid Martini, with vodka,  honey, lime, and raspberry.  And of course, anything that comes in a glass like this is bound to be good…

And if you’re in the mood for something different, I recommend going there on St. Patrick’s Day…

We chose a beautiful route up along Tomales Bay on our way through Marin county and back into Sonoma county. There are lots of signs for BBQ oysters in restaurants. The bay is a prime oyster spot, and the Tomales Bay Oyster Co and Hog Island Oyster Co have been recommended to me. You can buy oysters and barbecue them right on the water; and bring a cooler to bring oysters home, if you’ve so inclined. An article about west coast oysters is here. Hog Island Oyster Co is also located in the San Francisco Ferry Building.

We didn’t indulge in oysters, but did admire the scenery, and the houses that have great views of the scenery.

And finally, I was able to stop near a farm to take pictures of the lovely cows that make such fine cheeses and milk and cream for the area.

Point Reyes Station is the town with the largest commercial area along the Point Reyes National Seashore, which looks like this on the map, with our drive from the French Marin Cheese Co. To the west, the park is supposed offer hiking and a beautiful lighthouse. I hadn’t heard found anything about the pastries in that area, though, so pfft…. we reserved that for a separate trip.

We walked around the cute town itself, whose commercial streets pretty much form an “I” shape.

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Isn’t it amazing that this seems to work so well?

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Like Napa, Sonoma is a town, a valley, and a county. When I woke up this morning in Napa, it was a little foggy, but I thought it might make for atmospheric drive so I aimed for the town of Sonoma. As if I’d wandered into Oz, Sonoma was surprisingly clear and sunny, with a mostly blue skies and rolling green hills.

This is just outside the town of Sonoma. I know what the word means, but I don’t know what the sign means.

The downtown is centered around a square, which has a park and City Hall in the center.

I was just on a morning mission to scope out the town, so I just walked around the lovely square, which is lined with shops on the outside.

Sonoma Cheese Factory is a landmark on the square. They’ve been making cheese since 1931, and are known for their Sonoma Jack.

Lots of jack. Lots of free samples. After I tried them all, I settled on the hot pepper one.

Adult cheese whiz.

Although it’s great fun to drive around wine country and visit what you find in the greens hills and valleys, a benefit of stopping in towns is that there are often stores operated by wineries that have tastings. Drunk driving is a big problem here, so such stores let you drink and rest and explore until you can drive again. In contrast, killing time in a rural winery’s parking lot is little fun.
I was excited by the popular Basque Cafe.

But I was in the mood for walking and the display was a little too monochromatic for me, so no tastings were made. I am curious about what they put in that gateau basque on the upper right, though…

The square is quite large, and it was a good stroll to see the variety of establishments. I was impressed to see an art house movie theater.

I was also impressed by the prospect of a quilt shop… or maybe the idea of it–I didn’t seek it out.

And how to get them hooked young….

The girl & the fig is probably the best known restaurant in town, and you’ll see their products, such as spreads and sauces, everywhere in the valleys and beyond.

With so much competition, having an historic garden can’t hurt.

There were also quite a few arcades around the square lined with little shops. Yes, this one has a store called Scandinavian Trends with a gnome in front of it.

Sonoma reminded me a lot of Healdsburg, which is a town in northern Sonoma County that is also centered around a square. The weird thing is that, despite the variety of stores and architecture, these towns also remind me of New England, with their modern quaintness and traditional quirkiness and assortment of jams for sale. The main difference is that New England rarely ever gets this dry and sunny.

Angwin. Such a great name that makes me think of an ancient and noble hamlet nestled into the Welsh countryside. Instead, it’s a town of about 2500 people at about 2000 ft elevation that is nestled into the Napa countryside 7 miles northeast of St. Helena. It fuels the Angwin Reporter.

I’m still trying to figure out what happened on my visit.

After a beautiful ascent up the side of a hill, careening soooo close to steep dropoffs, I saw the decorative “Angwin” town sign. Then there was a strip mall with a such things as grocery market, a laundromat, and a post office. I’d heard that there was a college named Pacific Union College here, and across the street, its campus started. At the next intersection, there were signs for college buildings to the right. I continued straight in search of downtown, and found myself driving through a tunnel of evergreen trees. A sign warned me that there would be curvy roads for the next 4 miles. So, I made a left and eventually circled back through a residential area to the strip mall, which I guess is Angwin’s downtown. And that was it.

Back when I was desperately looking for an apartment, I almost looked at one in Angwin. My desperation would have remained. It’s not a bad town, but I think I missed exactly what people do there…. where people go…. where people are….

I wanted to take pictures, but the sun wasn’t right for the strip mall itself, so this is the view looking across the street….

I descended back down the road, and hopped out of the car at a turn off.

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There were other turn offs with great views of the valley, but I was too busy keeping track of the curves to stop in time for them.I took the Silverado Trail back to Napa, which runs parallel to Hwy 29 on the east, and is somewhat of a locals’ road. It’s slightly curvy, right on the fields, and people drive really fast on it. Part of it looks like this.

The mustard is starting to come up, and soon the valley will be blanketed in yellow. It’s a big deal here. The Grand Opening Event of the Napa Valley Mustard Festival is being held at the CIA this weekend, and word is that it will be packed.

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