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| photo: Joshua Lurie/944.com |
With a sensibility learned from fairy tales, one would expect a baker, the conjurer of butter, sugar and fruits, flour and spices, to be a kind and gentle person. Peering over a row of story-book cakes and pies, the baker, always wrapped in a white apron with a dusting of flour, desires only the customer’s enjoyment of what has been produced by “her” skilled hands and generous heart.
That fairy tale baker has come to Santa Monica with the appearance of Zoe Nathan, she of the mile-wide smile, generous heart, and magical hands. Zoe and husband Josh Loeb are the proprietors of Huckleberry (1014 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica CA) and Rustic Canyon Restaurant and Wine Bar just across the street from Huckleberry. Since Zoe begins baking each day at 3AM, she is not always peering over the display case filled with her efforts, although one morning I glimpsed her dancing behind the pastry board. The display case at Huckleberry makes for its own worthy peering and astonishing, addictive eating. Every day it is a bit different depending on the availability of farmer’s market fruits and Zoe’s whims.
Greenspans is tiny and sandwiched (no pun intended) in between a bar and some tacky Melrose clothing store on the old Tommy Tang strip of Melrose, where Evan Kleiman opened Angeli Cafe all those years ago. Back then all of the good actors in town could be found in Milton Katselas’s Mon and Wed night class at the Zepher Theater just across the street, and Chianti was down the block serving up perfect stracciatella soup. That stretch was something back in its day. (Pardon the walk back 30 years).
As a devoteé of all things wine, I am on the constant lookout for
events that allow me to expand my palate without hurting my pocketbook.
It's rare to find me at large "Grand Tastings" because I find it
difficult even with pouring/spitting to get my $50-$100 worth and still
be able to function or remember what I drank. Living in Los Angeles,
"bang for the buck" wine-centered evenings are few and far between so
when I heard about the Tavern's bi-weekly Wine and Cheese Club, I made a
reservation immediately. The Larder, where the tasting takes place, is
the casual cafe attached to Tavern, which is Suzanne Goin's latest
restaurant venture. Even though I've never been to her reknowned wine
bar A.O.C. – it's horrifying I know, I'll get there, I promise – I knew
this was going to be good. It's what she does. Plus, four wines paired
with cheese and nibbles for $29? There's nothing wrong with that
equation. Except the drive, which thankfully for us was against traffic.
It's sort of hidden. You can't see it from the street and it's beneath a hotel that doesn't seem nearly as nice, the Hotel Carmel, that is. It's called Chloe, the Westside complement to Laurie Mulstay and Ron Marino's stable of hot spots which include The Bar and Magnolia. And it's not quite full. But it's elegant, and hip, and calming in a way that makes you think you could go there to meet a business associate or a bed mate, and either would be a success. 
I go to Pasadena often because my younger daughter’s cheer team practices there. Yes, I spawned a cheerleader because my parents don’t have enough to laugh about in heaven. It’s given me a chance to explore Old Pasadena and I’ve been loving it. But the fact that “Of all the Gin Joints” so to speak, I mean that Little Flower Candy Company just happened to open a bakery in Pasadena was just dumb luck for me. The building is an art deco cubby that reveals itself as you’re zooming along what looks like a residential area. Pasadena is funny that way.