Structural Crab

10 Oct 2015 11 Comments

by scolgin in Recipes Tags: , , , , , ,

I’ve been on a softshell crab kick lately. Our local fine butcher, Jim’s, gets them on Friday. And for the past couple months, I’ve been a familiar face.

“Ur gonna turn into a giant softshell crab,” my pal Bob texted me after I sent him a photo of a soft-shell I was eating at a sushi joint in L.A.’s Sawtelle Japantown neighborhood.

Crab close up

Crab close up

Yes, softshell crabs are one of my favorite things. And the thing is, they’re only available fresh for a few short months each summer. When I see ’em, I eat ’em. More

The Perils of Sitting Next to the Japanese Couple at the Revolving Sushi Bar

03 Feb 2015 13 Comments

by scolgin in Eating Out Tags: , , , , , ,

There’s an outpost of a popular Tokyo revolving sushi chain called Kula located in the Little Osaka neighborhood of Sawtelle Avenue in West L.A. that I like to visit.

Imogen enjoying her salmon at Kula

Imogen enjoying her salmon at Kula

Every plate is $2.25, the quality is unusually good, and so you get a great sushi lunch for $12-$15. You can really go nuts and spend $20. More

The Tomato Bank

16 Aug 2011 4 Comments

by scolgin in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sometimes in life you stumble upon an odd confluence of food and commerce. And more often than not, the Japanese are behind it. Witness the business I noticed today on a sojourn to L.A.’s Little Osaka to pick up some fish: The Tomato Bank.

Happy customer leaving the Tomato Bank

I’m not sure I would feel confident entrusting my savings to the Tomato Bank. But maybe that’s not what kind of bank it is. More

The Lonesome Death of a Market

31 May 2011 6 Comments

by scolgin in Markets & Stores, Observations Tags: , , , , , , ,

It’s always sad for me to write about the ghosts of places I loved, in decline or disappearing. (Favorite restaurants of the past, Dar Maghreb and Anisette, for example.) Such is today’s ghost story, my fingers tapping glumly at the keyboard…

Last days at the Safe & Save

I stopped awhile back by one of my favorite markets, the Safe & Save on Sawtelle. On a stretch of “Little Osaka” that’s becoming somewhat trendy with izakayas and Giant Robots, it was — along with Satsuma Imports and Hashimoto bonsai nursery — one of the last vestiges of the Old Sawtelle. More