Fishing With Dynamite: The Bomb in Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach dining scene is blowing up. Following his success at M. B. Post, Chef David Lefevre opened up Fishing with Dynamite just a few doors down, this time focusing on seafood.

Not to miss at Fishing with Dynamite is their raw bar selection, including (of course) a great selection of eight different oysters. My recent favorite is the Sweet Petite (Cape Cod, MA). Like the name suggests, it's one of the sweetest oysters out there!

Think you know scallops? Hold that thought until you try the Peruvian Scallops ($22/dozen), perhaps the most unique item on the raw bar menu. Small yet succulent and sweet, perfectly accented by the grapefruit.

We also had Littleneck clams ($26/dozen) and Atlantic Lobster ($20 for half), both excellent.

Uni lovers (that would be me) shouldn't miss the special and aptly named Bomb.com: hand harvested Santa Barbara sea urchin ($15)

You can choose two of these sauces: mignonette, cocktail, ponzu, pico de gallo, yuzu kosho mayo, saffron aioli, remoulade. Which one you should get depends on what raw items you're getting!

Cocktails are also great here and designed to go with the seafood dishes and there are options for all palates from martini lovers to those who like richer, sweeter cocktails like flips. If you want something spicier, try the Regalo de Dios (Hacienda de Chihuahua sotol, Combier, strawberry-rhubarb puree, serrano, rhubarb bitters).

Those who prefer more aromatic drinks should opt for Through the Looking Glass (No. 3 gin, Tio Pepe fino sherry, Cocchi Americano, orange bitters, Dolin dry vermouth rinse).

There were also a couple of specials on the menu that day:
Hamachi, avocado, ponzu, radish, serrano, shiso ($16)

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Saturday July 20: Support Torrance Memorial, Attend Evening Under the Stars

Los Angeles is not the only one with food festivals, South Bay has their own, too. Hosted by American Honda at its Torrance campus, Evening Under the Stars gathers some of the best in South Bay restaurants while raising funds for Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Disneyland Resort Sommeliers will be serving 80 different wines while educating the guests and saxophonist Kenny G will be the entertainment of the night.

Some of the restaurants and bars that will be there include Alpine Village, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Gonpachi at Miyako Hybrid Hotel, Jackson’s Food & Drink, Nothing Bundt Cakes,  Ortega 120, Riboli Family Wine Estates, and The Strand House.

The festival will take place from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $150 per person, $250 per pair or $4,000 for table sponsors (10 guests per table) and can be purchased by calling the Chamber at 310-540-5858, the Torrance Memorial Health Care Foundation at 310-517-4703, or by visiting www.TorranceMemorial.org.
Tickets can only be purchased online until noon, Friday July 19.

Hironoya (Gardena, CA)

I got an email from Utopia, a South Bay-based Japanese-focused gift certificate store offering discounted certificates for South Bay and Japanese local businesses like Gaja (the okonomiyaki place), Robataya on Sawtelle, and Izakaya Bincho. They asked if I wanted to try using one of their certificates to visit a restaurant, and I do love Japanese food so why not! I was tempted to go back to Bincho but I figured I should use it to visit a restaurant I've never been to before so I opted for Hironoya in Gardena.

Hironoya sits in Tozai Plaza and seems to be visited by mostly Japanese. When I was there there was a reunion for some university in Japan and they proceeded to sing their alma mater song. Hironoya serves sashimi, sushi rolls, tempura, udon and various other dishes, but no nigiri sushi.

They did have some fresh fish, though so I tried their blue fin tuna toro sashimi ($18 for 4 pieces). Not as fatty as some other toro I've had but definitely fresh.

Also tried sea bream sashimi ($9) and a salmon roll, which were both pretty good. I haven't had sushi rolls in a while but enjoyed this one.

You can get almost everything tempura'd here it seems, from broccoli and eggplant ($1.95, 2pcs each) to sea urchin ($12.95) and oyster ($4.95, 2pcs)

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Hands On Tamale Making Class at Ortega 120 (Redondo Beach)

I LOVE tamales but I have a hard time to find ones that are just right for me. I want them filled with things I like, for example I'm always looking for a blue corn tamale but the ones here are usually only filled with cheese. So, when Ortega 120 offered me to attend one of their tamale making class, I thought it sounded fun. The tamale class is only held in December since tamales are apparently a holiday tradition. The chef said that his family would always say that way you will always have something to unwrap for Christmas!

The hands-on tamale class was completely full (and they were all women, which was kind of expected)

The $40 class also includes a glass of their house margarita and food 

Ortega has their own masa, made with Canola oil so it's healthier but still moist. You can buy their masa to go at the restaurant, or you can also buy traditional masa at Mexican bakeries. They had prepared the masa for us and the filling which included chicken and beef tinga, chili and cheese. They provided the recipes for these fillings, but during the class all we had to do was assemble them.

Spreading the masa on the corn husk was harder than I expected at first, since you don't want it to be too thick, though eventually I got used to it.

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A Tour and Many Tastes of King's Hawaiian Bakery

King's Hawaiian Bakery was started by Robert Taira, the father of the current president, Mark, first as a stand alone bakery in Hawaii in Hilo in 1956. The family then moved to Honolulu and opened up the bakery on King Street. All the family worked at the bakery and tourists were buying them as souvenirs. The round bread was the number 1 fundraising item on the island. Mark's grandma then had the great idea of starting a mail order service and demand for King's Hawaiian bread kept growing into what it is now - a big factory in Torrance, California where they still produce bread with Robert's original recipe.

I was invited to tour the factory recently, and of course I'm not going to say no to such an opportunity!

Part of this tour involved some confidential information like the machines they use etc so not many pictures, sorry! But I was surprised at what a big operation this really was, from machines that cut and knead the dough to packaging it. The end of the line was a favorite, of course, with the smell of butter and fresh baked bread wafting in the air.

Of course, the best part was probably trying the rolls fresh off the line (we got the wheat rolls), just with butter! Can't beat this.

After the tour, we went out to their back lot for lunch! They've called in some of LA's best food trucks that serves or uses King's Hawaiian products, along with a whole spread of their own desserts. Mark's daughter Courtney experiments with different recipe using the bread in the factory kitchen including things like white chocolate chip bread pudding and garlic cheese bread. Some of the desserts we had are served at their restaurant, and also their newer fast casual restaurant, The Local Place. The Tres Leches cake and the bread pudding was my favorite.

I immediately went for Lobsta Truck's lobster roll, which is served on toasted King's Hawaiian sweet hot dog bun! I've always loved their lobster roll!

The Kogi Truck does their sliders using King's Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls. Both their short rib and tofu sliders were crowd favorites.

Buttermilk Truck's French Toast sticks also uses King's Hawaiian bread.

Ludo Truck serves their fried chicken with the dinner roll.

When we left, they told us they had a parting gift for us. I was expecting a bag, maybe one or two packages of their bread. But noooo. This is the Aloha spirit after all! Our parting gift was a huge box of goodies, so big that I needed help carrying it to the car! Enough bread to last me months, coffee, cookies, apron, gift card, etc ... Jealous? I bet. Want one? They're actually giving away a box to one of my readers too! The contents won't be exactly the same but you can be sure they will be as generous. Check back tomorrow for a new post for the giveaway! :)

Brunch at Lazy Dog Cafe (Torrance)

Usually my trips down to Torrance only involves Japanese restaurants and bakeries, but I broke the pattern on my latest trip with brunch at the Lazy Dog Cafe.

Here is what you need to get at brunch:
Sunny Side Up Pizza: white pizza with Spinach, Sundried Tomatoes, Bacon, topped with three fresh Eggs, baked until golden brown ($9.25)

Fellow blogger LA OC Foodie ordered this, but luckily he was generous enough to share. It was my favorite thing I had at Lazy Dog, especially the slices with the egg yolk on them. It's breakfast on a pie! Hmm, maybe they should put six eggs instead?

For sweet potato lovers, get the sweet potato tater tots with roasted jalapeno-lime aioli ($4.75)

The bacon lovers should try the Bacon Bloody Mary (Vodka, housemade crispy bacon infused bloody mary mix, pepperoncini, pickled cherry pepper,olive, bacon-corn nut salt, $7.50). I'm not a huge fan of savory cocktails and bloody marys so I didn't order one. I tried a sip of someone else's and it's got quite a kick to it! Bloody Mary lovers should enjoy this one.


Lazy Dog Cafe has their own house brews, made by the brewery Firestone Walker and you can get a taster of six for $6.95. The taster includes the Lazy Dog Honey Blonde, Lazy Dog American Hefe, Lazy Dog Bavarian Hefe, Lazy Dog Pale Ale, Lazy Dog Red and a seasonal beer (which happened to be the Firestone Velvet Merlin the day we went).

Out of the Lazy Dog beers, we liked the red ale the best, and I also liked the Bavarian Hefeweizen.

You can also get a sampler of their three house-made Sangrias: White Peach, Black-Currant Rose, and Pomegranate Red ($8.25)

The three have pretty distinct flavors. I liked the white peach and black-currant rose, but if you've never had them, the sampler trio is definitely the way to go.

It's rare to see fried rice on a brunch menu, especially at a western restaurant, so I was intrigued enough to order the Hawaiian Fried Rice: Stir-fried steamed rice with hickory-smoked bacon, pork sausage, cabbage, veggies and eggs ($7.95)

I wished they had put a sunny side up egg with runny yolk with this instead of the frittata-like egg. It's an enormous amount of food for the price-I could barely eat a third of it - but I much preferred the breakfast pizza.

We had to try the pancakes for dessert, especially one with a bacon butter, no?
Wild blueberry pancakes and maple bacon butter: Three large buttermilk blueberry pancakes, topped with blueberry compote, housemade maple bacon butter and syrup on the side ($7.75)

The maple bacon butter actually had chunks of bacon in them! This made me be picky when I spread the butter, as I had to look for the parts with the chunks. The small, wild blueberries are sweeter than the big supermarket kind and thus worked better as a pancake topping.

When you live far from Torrance, it's hard to go there without stopping at at least one Japanese restaurant or bakery, but Lazy Dog Cafe should certainly be a spot for the locals. The menu is a good value, they have their own brews plus a few more local craft beers on tap, and that addictive sunny side up pizza!

Lazy Dog Cafe
3525 W Carson St
Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 921-6080
lazydogcafe.com
 

It's All About the Grill at American Farmhouse Tavern (Manhattan Beach, CA)

We get excited over restaurant openings touting famous chefs or restaurant groups these days, but some little-known, family-owned places are serving up some great food without all the hullabaloo. Such is the American Farmhouse Tavern in Manhattan beach, which recently moved from a 35-seat restaurant to one down the street that seats 135.

I was invited to a recent press dinner. We convened at the bar for some appetizers including toast with creamy guacamole and salad topped with tender, juicy slices of tri tip.

Some of their cocktails actually sounded interesting. I ordered the Buffalo Smoke (Buffalo Trace bourbon, peach nectar, St Germain, maple smoked bacon wrapped sugar cane stick, $10)

A good and potent drink that I should've ordered when I have some food in my tummy.

They also have a good selection of beers on tap, including Allagash White ($8). There are tons of happy hours and daily specials too, including $4 wine/beer/well drinks/appetizers on weekdays (11-2pm, 4-6:30pm) and Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm on, $3 draft beers on Mondays, etc.

American Farmhouse Tavern is run by owner/chef Orlando Novoa who hailed from Santa Maria. Appropriately, the restaurant serves Santa Maria style barbecue like grilled meat and fish alongside Central Coast wines. They proudly grill their meat over Central Coast red oak (the wood comes from fallen trees so it's sustainable).

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Gonpachi - Torrance and the Miyako Hybrid Hotel

Upon pulling into the Miyako Hybrid Hotel parking lot I already loved the place: they have special parking spaces for Fuel Efficient Vehicles. Go Prius!

We were invited for a tasting of the Gonpachi Restaurant that opened as part of the Miyako Hybrid hotel. I remembered going to the Beverly Hills Gonpachi but that was so long ago before they changed their menu.

Unlike the very traditional decor at the Gonpachi Beverly Hills, the Gonpachi Torrance went for a more modern and "hip" look.

While waiting for the others to finish their hotel tour (coming from Pasadena, we couldn't make it to Torrance on time), I had a shoju-based cocktail at the bar.
We started with some Zensai (appetizers): tofu, shrimp shinjo, kinpira
The shrimp shinjo was paired with a sweet & sour fish sauce. The tofu seemed to be homemade and had a nicely rich texture.

Our meals were paired with the following sakes: Hakkaisan, Aiyama Nanbu-bijin (a floral sake), and Onikoroshi Daiginjo

Kobe Beef Carpaccio with ponzu and spicy miso sauce.
The kobe carpaccio had a seared edge and a smoky smell.

The most impressive item that night was definitely the Sashimi platter.
Abalone, salmon, squid, tuna, orange surf clams and more.

Here they serve Hokkaido "Bafun" uni, not your usual Santa Barbara, and it actually has a stronger, sweeter and more concentrated flavor, although it's actually not as creamy.

The sashimi was followed by Gindara (grilled miso marinated black cod)
Very tender, flaky and sweet. It pairs well with the onikoroshi. It's served atop rice with edamame and seaweed.

Sushi plate
I found that the fish, and especially the toro, to be of very good quality, but the rice was too dense.

Just like their Beverly Hills counterpart did, Gonpachi handmakes their soba in-house.
They do this in a small room with glass windows so patrons can actually watch it being made as you walk into the entrance.
We had the Zaru soba to semi-end the meal before the dessert.
The soba here is certainly better than store-bought dried soba (although it's no Ichimiann). Soba-yu is also served with it.

After cleansing with a cup of hojicha that had a lovely roasted aroma, for dessert we had the Pumpkin Zenzai (sweet red beans, mochi balls, vanilla ice cream in pumpkin soup, topped with almonds).
I've had this dessert before and have always enjoyed it very much. I'm happy to see it is served here also.

Torrance is a mecca of Japanese food in this area, but the "fine dining" and sushi restaurants are still lacking. With its ambiance and setting in this new LEED silver-certified hotel, Gonpachi is poised to fill this gap for the locals. After all, as much as we love Ichimiann and Otafuku, we can't very well hold a business meeting there.

Gonpachi - Torrance
21381 South Western Avenue
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 320-6700