14 minute read
Dining
dining &nitelife directory
Average price per entree
up to $10
$16-25
$11–15 $25+
EL PORTAL
695 E. Green St., Pasadena (626)795-8553 Elportalrestaurant.com $$ Pasadena Weekly readers have been rewarding El Portal with the title of Best Mexican Food in the city for years. This charming little hacienda with brick walls, festive colors, fine art and a California elegant courtyard brings the authentic cuisine of Mexico and the Yucatan region to your table.
HILL STREET CAFÉ
1004 Foothill Blvd., La Canada Flintridge 8 1 8-952-1019 hillstreetcafelacanada.com $$ Hill Street Café is celebrating over 25 years of serving the community quality meals made of quality ingridients. We want to thank all of you who stuck with us during the remodeling process and we want to welcome back everyone else. in our recent remodel, we have added an outdoor patio, a bar and more dining area, we have created a relaxed ambience with a touch of modern but still retaining our extensive menu, our friendly service and most important a family atmosphere.
MARGARITA’S
155 S. Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena (626) 449-4193 margaritaspasadena.com $$ A t Margaritas Mexican Restaurant, our family has been shar ing our authentic Mexican dishes with the wonderful people of Pasadena since 1977. Guests enter our warm, inviting space and leave as family -- with plenty of burritos, tortas, tostadas, fajitas, and more to be had in between! Our dishes incorporate and pay homage to the rich flavors of bustling mercados, corner taquerias, and seaside palapas. So visit us, eat to your heart's content at our mouthwatering lunch buffet, sip on a refreshing margarita, and feel at home.
The New Normal
THE HOT POT HEAT WAVE IS ON WEST GREEN STREET BY FRIER MCCOLLISTER
Does anything really make sense anymore? Why would a Sichuan hot pot shop open in the dead of summer when the world is recovering from a pandemic lockdown?
A banner proclaiming “grand opening!” with a translation in Mandarin is strung across the façade of Chong Qing Yao Mei on a shady patch of West Green Street in the first week of August. What is going on here?
In the breezy open courtyard of Chong Qing Yao Mei, where distanced tables have been arranged for outdoor dining, a single-page carry-out menu is procured. The host confirms that, indeed, the restaurant “opened” just two weeks prior. More research is required!
Hot pot? I am no aficionado by any means, and it’s been years since I’ve had it. At Chong Qing Yao Mei—as at most hot pot purveyors—there are propane burners set in the center of each table, where a large bowl of flavored broth is heated. Then, depending on your order, a variety of raw ingredients, meat, seafood, tofu and vegetables are brought to the table to be cooked in the boiling broth before being CHONG QING YAO MEI ladled into a bowl to eat. 55 W. Green Street, Pasadena Korean Bean Paste
It tends to be a communal experience 626-639-3391 with dining companions sharing the broth bowl and trading ingredients. Perhaps not an ideal format for pandemic dining, but hot pot enthusiasts also tend to be very enthusiastic. By contrast and temperament, I can be one of those insufferable codgers who might suggest that when I go to a restaurant, I’m not there to do the cooking. Still, I’m curious to know more and the menu I retrieved seemed simple enough. There were five choices of hot pot—spicy beef, pork bone, house tomato, vegetarian and spicy pot. The accompanying raw ingredients were more or less the same, except the protein of choice: napa cabbage; wood ear mushrooms; tomato; glass noodle; lettuce; Enoki mushrooms; corn; tofu and egg. Sausage, Spam and beef tendon balls appeared in the meat pots with shrimp and pork in the “spicy pot.” Pictures of the neatly arranged platters accompanied the descriptions. Each of the hot pots was priced at $15.99. In addition to rice and noodle dishes, there was a section titled “marinated” that had five items: spicy pig ears, spicy duck neck, spicy pork trotter, spicy chicken feet and crispy pork trotter, all of which range from $10.99 to $13.99. Fine. I’ll get the spicy pot and, if I’m really going for it, maybe the spicy pig ears? I also figure that it’s now the end of August and 98 degrees in the shade. Alone, I’ll try the food and get the story from the staff, all at the same time. Indeed, on a random Wednesday during the August heatwave, I am the only patron at Chong Qing Yao Mei. The genial and patient Harry Hao is the only one minding the store. That’s as far as I got with my plan. Henry presents me with an unfamiliar menu that is laid out like a sushi bar with a broad checklist of categorized ingredients at individual prices. Order a special soup base, of which there are eight choices with three levels of spiciness. These start at $8.95 for miso and range to $11.95 for a combo or $19.95 for beef oil that includes quail egg, dry bean curd, duck blood, scallion, ginger and garlic. Next, guests order their ingredients from the lists that continue on the back of the double-sided menu, each at their own price and specified cooking time. I counted 75 ingredient choices available that day. These ranged from squid balls ($4.95) to fresh frog ($8.95) to Wagyu beef ($29.95). I’m already sweating, but now it’s a cold sweat. Astrologically, I’m a double-Libra. That means, in the best of circumstances, I have difficulty deciding what to order from any menu. Everything always looks good. This is the type of menu that makes it all but impossible. I just wanted the spicy pot at $15.99 from the old menu, not this whirling kaleidoscope of choices. And what happened to the pig ears? I ask Henry for help. I realize, looking at the prices, that I will be ordering too much food and the tab will climb to over $30 if I attempt to replicate the spicy pot or so it seems. What to do? Heatstroke? Numbly desperate, I order the miso base ($8.95) with shrimp ($5.95) and tofu ($2.95). Even before Henry fires up the propane burner and presents the enormous bowl of miso broth, I realize this is an epic misfire. Let’s face it, miso soup with shrimp and tofu is not hot pot let alone regional hot pot from Chong Qing. No one’s fault but mine. That said, the eight shrimp were large and fresh. After paying $22.68 with tip, I stumble back out with two quart tubs of miso soup. Huh? To make it all worse, I did manage to glean from Henry that Chong Qing Yao Mei did not just open. Apparently, they’ve been at this location for three years. They closed
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in March at the advent of the lockdown and reopened at the end of July. Henry knew nothing of the old menu I had been given. Clearly, I’m just the wrong guy for the job this time.
Keep hope alive! Just down the block, Boiling Point Concept has been dishing its own take on hot pot since 2015. A burgeoning chain beginning with a location in Hacienda Heights in 2004, Boiling Point now has 11 locations in SoCal, three in NorCal, five in Washington state, four locations in Canada, and they just opened a new shop in Japan. The “concept” store in Pasadena includes a tea shop next door, Jin The Tea Shop. The Pasadena “concept” also features the use of organic ingredients, higher quality cuts of meat and new soup bases for the menu.
At Boiling Point Concept, I have a lovely chat with Elena Song and Peter Yu. Here, there is no outdoor dine-in option. However, the menu features actual individual hot pot preparations. I had been hoping to make some effete distinctions between Chong Qing “Sichuan” hot pot and “Taiwanese” hot pot, which is supposedly the derivation of Boiling Point’s inspiration. However, Elena gently talks me down, explaining that Boiling Point does more of a “fusion” style with Japanese and Thai riffs on the same hot pot concept, though they do have a “Taiwan-style” Beef option. Informally, the “national dish” of Taiwan
BOILING POINT CONCEPT 18 W. Green Street, Pasadena 626-219-6935, bpgroupusa.com
is beef noodle soup and this was the initial catalyst for Boiling Point’s menu concept. In fact, Boiling Point prefers to refer to its dishes as “hot soup” as opposed to “hot pot” though the setups and prep are largely the Thai Tomato same.
The soups at Boiling Point each come with the requisite assortment of meat and vegetables, according to the dish and the average price is $19. Indeed, the diverse array of styles include Taiwanese spicy, Thai tomato, milk cream curry, Tonkatsu miso and Korean bean paste, among others. Exotic add-ons can be included for an additional charge, like: quail egg ($1.98); crown daisy (3.25) or pork intestine ($4.90).
A new choice at Boiling Point Concept are the “BP Fresh Sets.” These are ingredient boxes that can be prepared at home and serve two people. Choose from lamb ($29.65), beef ($28.55) or pork ($27.45). The meat comes frozen with a veggie box, an add-on box and wok noodles and sauce. Just add water!
It’s still 98 degrees outside and I’m still the only idiot on Green Street looking for hot pot.
Don’t sweat it, if you have a similar urge. I’ve done the legwork for you. No matter the season, on this stretch of Green Street, it’s hot stuff comin’ through! n
dining &nitelife directory
Average price per entree
up to $10
$16-25
$11–15 $25+
Randy’s Donuts 230 S. Lake Avenue, Pasadena randysdonuts.com
SIERRA FUSION
120 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre ( 6 26) 355-3030 info@sierrafusion.com @SierraFusion $$ Dining in is back at Sierra Fusion! Along with social distancing guidelines for the dining room and patios, they now have a fully covered dining area located in the park ing lot west of the restaurant. “Sierra Fusion is the poster c h ild for how a restaurant should reopen after the horrible situation that affected us all,” said one customer. The restaurant recently released its summer menu and Happy Hour has returned from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday through Sat urday. Sierra Fusion now proudly serves dine in, al fresco d i ning, take-out, private functions and parties.
TOM'S FAMOUS FAMILY RESTAURANT
1130 E. Walnut St. Pasadena 6 2 6-577-7717 tomsfamous.com $ Please come and enjoy homemade breakfast lunch and din ner all made from scratch and FRESH. Nothing is ever served o r m ade from a can. We pride ourselves as being the cleanest store with the best quality food and BEST service in town. Thank you PASADENA!!!!!
TOPS WALNUT
1792 E. Walnut St., Pasadena (626) 584-0244 topsburger.com $ At T OPS on Walnut & Allen, we maintain the original taste from 60 years ago. My father wanted to create food as close to home made as possible. Our primary goal and focus is on taste, quality, f r eshness, cleanliness in our service and experienced staff. Most of our staff have been with us for more than twenty years. We invite you to come to TOPS on the corner of Walnut & Allen and taste the difference! Meet our staff and experience what quality service should be. The same quality service that has made us #1.
ZELO GOURMET PIZZAS
328 E. Foothill Blvd.Arcadia 626-358-8298 myzelopizza.info $$ It’s the cornmeal crust that makes this pizzeria stand out from the rest. This locally owned establishment’s signature dish is the fresh, corn, balsamic-marinated, oven-roasted red onion pie. Zelo Pizzeria has expanded the dining room to better serve you, so come in and give Zelo Pizzeria a try.
Randy’s Donuts’ signature 32-foot novelty architecture donut, also known as the world’s largest donut, sits atop the original Inglewood shop and is a top Los Angeles tourist destination.
A-Glaze-ing Donuts
PASADENA IS RANDY’S DONUTS’ FIFTH LOCATION BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI | PHOTOS COURTESY RANDY'S DONUTS
Randy’s Donuts owner Mark Kelegian considers Pasadena the key to the San Gabriel Valley.
“Pasadena has a particularly close place in my heart,” Kelegian said. “I spent a lot of years as a child living in South Pasadena, when Gus’ Barbecue Pit in the 1960s let you go in the back and cook your own steaks, and I’d go to the Rialto Theater as a child.”
He also said it’s a great business area, so he opened its fifth location at 230 S. Lake Avenue on September 2.
“It’s a city and an area that is very underserved in the donut market,” Kelegian said. “I think Lake Avenue is absolutely the perfect spot, especially when all the businesses around there return. You’ve got Caltech and Pasadena City College, so many neighbors and so forth.”
The Pasadena store continues Randy’s Donuts more than 60-year tradition and introduces a new coffee partnership with Jones Coffee Roasters, exclusively at the Pasadena location.
“We could try to create our own brand of coffee, but it makes no market sense, there’s no branding, no immediate recognition as a coffee offering,” he said.
“So, we took a well-known great brand like Jones Coffee Roasters and we partner up for immediate recognition. Pasadena is our first test market of partnering with a local coffee brand.”
At all Randy’s Donuts locations, guests can find more than 60 varieties of classic, deluxe, fancy and premium donuts mostly priced under $2, along with Randy’s Rounds (Randy’s Donuts much larger version of a donut hole), breakfast sandwiches, French Toast donuts and more.
“At the end of the day, it’s always about the glaze,” he said. “At our main store, we’ll sell 100,000 a month. It’s crazy. It’s all a testament to our 60 years’ worth of recipes and cooking procedures.
“In the donut business, 90% of it is your flour. We have two main bakeries in the world that do donut-related products. We have the largest one make a proprietary blend just for us. Nobody else can have it. It’s really that our cooking procedures. We do everything by hand. That’s why they come out so fluffy and airy. You can eat them the next day and after that.”
Other donut shops, he said, use less-expensive ingredients.
“When you go to a donut shop and see a glazed donut that’s yellowy and sugary, it’s not a good sign. Those donuts get hard within a half hour to an hour.”
Randy’s Donuts offers catering and delivery and has four other locations in the greater L os Angeles a rea— Inglewood, Century City, E l Segundo a nd D owney. In mid2019, the company announced plans to franchise the concept domestically and internationally signing deals to bring its donuts to S outh Korea, the Philippines a nd t he Middle East.
Randy’s signature 32-foot novelty architecture donut, also known as the world’s largest donut, sits atop the original I nglewood s hop and is a top Los Angeles tourist destination. As Kelegian says, “they come for the photo op but return for the best handmade donuts in the world.”
“I like the idea of having a product that I think will stand the test of time,” Kelegian said. “We went into this as a family business for my daughters. My two oldest daughters successfully had their own careers and are working for us now.
“I love that to death. Otherwise, I’m in the casino business and a law practice for 20-some years. This is a good family business. It’s something we can keep providing to the public.” n
