Los Angeles Day 4: Being a big kid and an Animal dinner

On the surface, I may look like a thirty year old man, but deep down, I am one big kid. I still love playing games and have a fascination with Lego, and I definitely couldn't leave LA without visiting Universal Studios.

Located up in the Hollywood Hills, it is still a live set with movies and TV shows still being filmed here all round the year. As alluring as all the film history is, I was here for some rides. To be fair, it all feels a little dated. The rides were fun, but nothing special and by the afternoon, with nothing more than a dirty hot dog to keep me going, I was starving and building up a proper hunger for my evening reservation at Animal.

Los Angeles Day 3: A farmers market in Hollywood, brunch and a US popup

Over the first few days of my visit, all I heard in relation to food pretty much every where I went was "organic", "healthy" and "local". I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised, since the city of Angels is packed to the brim full of aspiring actors trying to look their best. What did surprise me was how easy it was to get your hands on all this great produce. All through the week, you can spot farmers markets around the town, with a seeming abundance of them on Sunday. Chatting with Charlie the night before, he encouraged me to visit one with him right in the heart of Hollywood, home to some of the suppliers of his restaurant.

Lining the streets for a couple of blocks either way were rows of stalls selling fresh fruit, veg, meat and even live seafood. As with most markets, we went along, checking out the stalls, snagging tasters when on offer. Apart from freakishly large strawberries, most of the fruit and veg tasted pretty great, with the oranges in particular tasting like no orange I had ever tasted. Sweet and delicious. Some blueberries, some of those oranges and some apples bought, we headed down to Silver Lake for some coffee.

I don't know a whole lot about coffee, but I know I love it. It seems the Angelenos love it to, and with the queue heading out of the door at Intelligentsia, I knew it had to be good, people normally only queue for the good stuff. When I finally got my lips around a cup, I knew it was. A deeper and slightly more bitter brew, but delightfully smooth. It didn't last very long, so once we were done, we gave up our seats to the waiting hordes and headed for lunch.

Charlie assured me that the food at our next stop Canele was good. He knew the owners who had very much the same ethos in food as he had, try and use the freshest and most seasonal ingredients in the best way that you could. As it was Sunday brunch, I ordered conservatively with a cheese and mushroom omelette, and a side of home cured bacon. The food was certainly good, with a faultless omelette, garlicky crisp home fries and a well dressed salad. The sad thing was that it took over an hour to turn up and the staff were looking sadly flustered with all the people they had to serve. Disappointing, but at least the food was good.

I really wanted an opportunity to meet other "foodies" and when I learnt of a pop up food and cocktail evening at the Roosevelt hotel held by Made by Meg, I signed up. What followed were lovely cocktails by mixologist Matthew Biancaniello paired with plates of food by Meg Hall. Some pairings were great, some were good, and some dishes were a little disappointing, but on the whole, the night was a great success. The chocolate terrarium to end the night was quite a delicious show stopper. I met a gaggle of LA food lovers who kept me company and were lovely to chat to, and all in all had a lovely evening. A really great day seeing and meeting a less touristy side of LA.

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Silver Lake Intelligentsia - 3922 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029

Canele - 3219 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90039-1831

Los Angeles Day 2: In-n-Out and pasta with the Village Idiot at Osteria Mozza

The recreation grounds at Venice Beach

Day two in LA saw me really embrace my inner tourist. Being a non driver, and facing up to the lack of public transport in LA, I decided that the best way to see the city would be to hop on a city tour and let them drive me around. My tour of choice cost $65 for the day, starting at 9am, picking me up from my hotel and proceeded to take me around LA, delivering me back to my hotel at 4pm.

The canals in Venice

Throughout the day, I travelled far and wide. The morning took in the highlights of Santa Monica and Venice Beach (where the area was designed to be like Venice, Italy, canals and all) and headed on downtown, where the streets were empty bar a group of protesters. With not much going on there other than large buildings housing the cities offices, we swung back to Hollywood to check out the walk of fame, famous theatres, but more importantly, to have lunch.

In-n-Out has picked up quite a following in London. Burgers have been growing in popularity over the years, and the influential Meatwagon, Byron and Hawksmoor burgers are amongst the many who have been leading the charge. In-n-Out are not a gourmet burger, but are much more fast food, focused on using good ingredients with each individual burger cooked fresh. With a limited menu (and a few “secret” additions), the burgers are good, and are head and shoulders above anything you would get at your local McDonalds. Freshly ground beef patties, cooked to order and expertly covered in a slick of day glo yellow American cheese, accompaned with fresh garnishes.

After devouring my burger and animal fries, I proceeded down Hollywood boulevard, where I proceeded to be assaulted by street performers, scarily reminiscent of the stars that they were hanging around, and snapped away at some of the well known landmarks on the Hollywood strip. Next stops were a tour of Beverly Hills and Bel Air, prying into the homes of the rich and famous, with my personal highlight being the home of the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air". A stop on the world famous and ridiculously expensive Rodeo Drive, and I was back where I began, outside my hotel.

My evening stop had me pretty excited. When I put out my call for help, the word Mozza came back at me from numerous sources. The brainchild of Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton, the Mozza group are dishing excellent Italian dishes to the hungry hordes of LA every day from four different outlets. I was lucky enough to secure a table at the Osteria and met up with Charlie who runs the nearby Village Idiot (thanks to the Pubgeek for putting me in touch). It was great hanging out with yet another local, and getting a steer for what the city was about from one of its residents.

The food was definitely memorable. Steering away from mains and ordering a selection of appetizers and pastas instead, I was extremely happy with what we got. First up were "happy sticks", breadsticks slathered in truffle butter and wrapped in ham. A lot to be happy about, I am sure you can agree. Burrata served with speck, peas and beans was light and fresh, the mussels were incredibly addictive floating in a light tomato broth, but it was the crisped pigs trotter which left me a little speechless. The gelatinous trotter was perfectly encased in a light crumb and fried, giving way to an almost liquid center when eaten, with the light and perfectly balanced mustard sauce, and the salad balanced with shards of apple all coming together and singing in harmony.

The pastas were also exceptional. The egg yolk ravioli came wrapped in light al dente pasta, resting on a pillow of ricotta. The nutty brown butter sauce finished off a rich but enjoyable dish. The meaty ragu dish set your tastebuds tingling, although the depth of seasoning was verging on the overpowering. The last dish we had were a plate of gnudi, a pasta I had never had before, but the ricotta based gnocchi were pillowy light and smothered with garlic, butter and greens, each component making this even more delicious.

At this stage, desserts were definitely superfluous to requirements, but we ordered a few anyway, with my assorted ice cream filled cannoli varying from ok (espresso) to bloody great (caramel). Paying the bill (about £65 each with a few drinks), we headed on down Melrose to the Village Idiot where I partook in one last Junipero and tonic to round off a day where I had acted like a tourist, but eaten like a king.

Osteria Mozza - 6602 Melrose Ave, LA, CA 90038

Los Angeles Day 1: Decadence at Providence

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, I had a bit of a meltdown before I left for the US. Them and their tricksy immigration rules, combined with nondescript instructions on how long you should have left on your passport. You get the idea. Even with all the research I had done, I was sweating as I checked in, sweating on the plane, and when the immigration dude had to "go check with his colleague about something", I nearly had a meltdown. Thankfully, they stamped my passport and I was through.

LA is a weird place. I was warned about how spread out it all was, and you can easily travel for streets and not see a soul (apart from the numerous homeless who wander the streets). Very few things are located near each other, and often things which look close together on a map, will turn into a $12 cab ride. Providence is one of these places. A 2 Michelin starred restaurant, it was to be my first eating destination on my trip and arriving early, I thought I would check out the surrounding neighbourhood. There was nothing around it at all. After a few minutes looking for things to distract me, I gave up and headed on in.

My first contact with LA hospitality was great. Our server was friendly, knowledgeable and quite refreshing from what I come to expect from much of London. Some might say over friendly, but you couldn't doubt the knowledge he had of all the restaurants products. The restaurant itself is small and looking a little worn on the inside, but still clean and simple with nice little touches. The food is far from clean and simple. Our amuse included the restaurants twist on two popular cocktails, and some extremely tasty morsels. The mojito gelee was a subtle cube of mojito, the "screwdriver" arrived like an egg yolk and exploded in your mouth. The gougere was perfectly executed, and the parsnip soup with bacon broth was quite special.

After that quartet, my appetite was fully geared up. We decided to share two "entrees" which couldn't have been more different. The lobster crepe arrived looking stunning, and tasting pretty great too. With the tail, the crunchy crepe and soft claw, you get a great assortment of contrasting tastes and textures. The clam fritters arrived simply in a bowl with some yuzu mayonnaise on the side, and although the first few were pleasant, they started to cloy. There was no way I could have finished a whole portion of these on my own.

My main was something so ridiculously decadent, that it jumped off the menu saying "order me", so order I did. Voila, one plate of  foie gras ravioli, served with "aromatics", a parmesan foam and smothered in grated truffle. I hate using the word umami, but this dish was designed to flood your mouth with this fifth taste, and the pasta was just so perfectly executed. Each bite provided me with such pleasure, it ended all too quickly. My companions plate of sea urchin spaghetti is definitely not something I would normally go for, so after a token mouthful, I left her to it.

I ended with a coffee "bombe" and a whisky cream, a delightful combination which tasted like a refined tiramisu in the mouth. Opposite me was a dessert a mad scientist would have been proud of. A perfectly caramelised stick of pineapple soaked in white soy with little globules of jalapeno sauce. A dessert which triggers all your savoury senses, with the base ingredients sweetness dragging this dish into dessert territory. Personally, I loved the combination of sweet and savoury, and each additional bite kept me coming back for more.

With ambitious combinations and excellent execution, it's easy to see why Providence has been awarded their coveted two stars. A visit to the local Farmers Market (located on 3rd and Fairfax) soon after was probably ill timed. Packed with stalls selling food, it would be a great place to hang out if you are hungry, not so much if you had just devoured a huge meal. Located right behind is the Grove, an open air shopping center where I didn't buy anything, and just sat in the Californian sun, soaking up rays so rarely seen in London.

Providence - 5955 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles 90038

For more pictures of Providence and Los Angeles HERE