March 5, 2009

FOOD+LAB CAFE & MARKETPLACE

Foodie alert! If you’re a sandwich connoisseur Food Lab Café is the place for you. Located on an unsuspecting block of Santa Monica Blvd, a stones throw away from a variety of chain restaurants, lay

s this mecca of homemade, freshly prepared food. As soon as you walk in, it’s impossible not to notice the wall full of Dean & Deluca products. From spice racks to pancake mix it’s an epicurean’s wet dream. When you turn around it gets even better. Staring you in the face is a prepared foods case and a blackboard with the day’s menu chalked in.

Sandwiches reign supreme at Food Lab and they are worth every calorie you consume. The standouts include the organic chicken curry on walnut raisin bread with lingonberry chutney. It’s the perfect ratio of sweet and spicy and has just the right amount of kick. Be careful as it is addictive and you’ll find yourself stopping by Food Lab Café multiple times a week just for this culinary delight. The homemade Austrian meatloaf is served hot with Food Lab’s signature tomato aioli, and fried onions on ciabatta bread. And for those of you that are more into unique sandwiches try the grilled chicken with roasted plums and honey whipped mascarpone cheese. This sandwich is so delicious it can almost be considered dessert!

Speaking of dessert, in addition to their own pastries, like sugar brioche, food lab also proudly carries Deluscious cookies and macaroons by Paulette. And don’t forget to grab their homemade sauces, aiolis, tapenades, and freshly squeezed lemonade and fruit juices from the refrigerated case.

After you place your order at the counter you receive a number and can take a table in front or on the back patio. When you head out back pick up some of their complimentary water flavored with mint and wait for your delicacy to arrive, which will be accompanied by a small dish of olives and cornichons. Whether you need a new lunchtime getaway or a place to grab a delicious dinner- Food Lab Café is a foodie’s dream.

March 3, 2009

FASHIONABLE FOOD
Eating becomes en vogue at Food + Lab

Like the Latin libertine we brought home last night, trendy cafés in Los Angeles tend to come and go. But instantly we could tell that Food + Lab would be different.

The paint barely dry on the thriving catering company’s new brick and mortar, Food + Lab is the brainchild of mother and son team, Esther and Nino Linsmayer. (We’ll pause to allow for the momma’s boys inside us all to take a moment and coo.)

Considering the affordable price of the company’s organic, nitrate- and hormone-free foodstuffs, Food + Lab is going against the grain here in lavishly-priced La-la-land. But then again, co-owner Esther is used to going against the grain: as a young fashion model in Paris, Linsmayer had the audacity to enjoy food.

Eating? Simply unheard of! Luckily for us, her passion for culinary arts won out.

The love affair is evident immediately upon entering the café. Carefully selected ingredients compliment each other in sandwiches like the organic turkey breast with brie, pear, honey, and fig compote ($9). But it’s the smoked salmon with crème fraiche, cucumber and lime zest on wheat ($11) that sends us into a heavenly shock so encompassing that we could care less if we’re out of Lactaid.

Aside from the menu, the market sells carefully selected products like cheeses and meats, as well as fashionable (and mostly biodegradable) kitchenware.

We’ve found Esther’s previous incarnation as a fashion model our justification for getting’ giddy with it over Food + Lab’s exquisite menu. Second guessing the Austrian meatloaf with dried tomato aioli, fried onions and Dijon on ciabatta ($9.50)? Go ahead. The ingredients are clean, and besides, it’s part of a model’s diet.

March 1, 2009

GATHER CLOSE AT FOOD+LAB CAFÉ

Tucked behind a tough industrial exterior and neighboring Los Angeles landmark restaurants including Jones Bar and Formosa Café, and in the shadows of the West Hollywood gateway lies Food+Lab Café, West Hollywood’s newest eatery on the block.

Food+lab was started 3 years ago as a catering company, hosting to the notorious and demanding entertainment industry. Food+Lab always had aspirations of bringing its passion for creative, healthy and epicurean food to a café setting. In the short span of 3 years Food+Lab has done exactly that. After catering more than one thousand events and many satisfied clients later, the café was born and opened its doors to the public in January 2009.

The culinary minds or lab techs as we like to call them at the controls of food+lab are Ester & Nino Linsmayer, both Austrian transplants to the United States. This “mom and pup” team, as labeled by Nino himself is the essence of Food+Lab. Nino serves as a culinary consultant of sorts and runs the day-to-day operations of the food lab brand, while Ester handles all aspects of the menu items; from creation to implementation. They are both usually on site and always make sure that the customers are taken care of and treated like family. Nino’s passion and exuberance is evident and he makes sure that the customer is satisfied.

Food+Lab is a bistro style café that serves up an array of tasty organic cuisine and freshness is the key ingredient.

Since this was a return visit, I had already had several food lab creations under my belt and was excited for the adventure in store. On my previous visit I had the Smoked Salmon Sandwich with Crème Fraiche and sliced cucumber. This creative twist and interpretation of lox on a bagel truly shows what kind of ingenuity goes into the menu at Food+Lab. Another selection that melts the taste buds is the salami sandwich with balsamic artichoke, gorgonzola and tapenade on ciabatta. This somewhat richer sandwich is built on artisan ingredients and complimentary flavors.

On the day of our shoot, Nino provided us with a tasting menu of several popular breakfast and lunch items. We started with an iced late and a classic cappuccino since Viennese coffee is one of the house specialties. For the breakfast course we started things off with the brioche with Nutella and mascarpone. This sinful combination is packed with bold flavors and works as a stand-alone breakfast or can even be served as a desert. Next we tasted the egg sandwich. This version is quite different from most others that I have had, and once again its preparation is truly unique. The sandwich is served on rustic Artisan wheat bread and has a slightly nutty texture. The flavors continue to build when a hard-boiled egg, pancetta, watercress and homemade Aioli meet in perfect unison. The lunch selections that we tried were the vegan sandwich complete with hummus, roasted vegetables accompanied by dried tomatoes and basil pesto and served on wheat. This sandwich is a meal in itself and would satisfy even the most discerning eater. The sandwiches are presented on wood planks and accompanied with a medley of house olives and mini gherkins. We debated several salad selections and told Nino to decide for us and he choose to serve us the chicken arugula salad with edamame, cranberry and candied pecans. This is a salad that takes him back to childhood because it is paired with mom’s homemade dressing and the dressing is the reason that Nino eats salad to this day.

Food+lab is also a marketplace for Charcutterie, imported European sodas and snacks as well as to-go items including soup. The Organic Potato chips are brought in from the United Kingdom and Esther tells us that the Beef and Horseradish are simply her favorites. Need a soda fix, try the “Alm Dudler”, translation; Drink of the Alps (the Coca-Cola of Austria), Nino describes it as “A lemongrass herby ginger ale.”

Need a gift for the foodie in your life? Gift baskets are available at food lab courtesy of Dean & Deluca of NYC. The food lab encourages living eco-consciously and encourages its customers to bring in and reuse the Food lab Tote bag ($25). Each purchase entitles the customer to a 25% discount on retail items.

Once our journey to Food+Lab was complete we realized quite simply that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this sidewalk café creates edible concoctions that keep testing your taste buds and keep the customers coming back for more. So next time your in the mood for some flavorful goodness, check out Food+Lab: where health and happiness meet taste.

January 24, 2009

FOOD+LAB BRINGS SOME MUCH NEEDED CLASS
TO THIS SQUALID HELLHOLE

When the term “old college buddy” comes to mind, one typically pictures an ex-Abercrombie meathead who can’t wean himself off backwards hats & Madden ‘04 and pretends to get excited about “getting wasted” even though it no longer brings him any tangible benefit and is just a convenient cover for the fact that the best days of his life are long gone. My “old college buddy” Nino Lindsmeir, on the other hand, is an Austrian ne’er do well who is more likely to be found sipping merlot, chain-smoking Marlboro Reds, and telling the nearest female that she is miraculously, flabbergastingly, incomprehensibly, breathtakingly beautiful than scarfing down wings at Barney’s Beanery. He’s like Billy Zane in “Titanic” meets Larry Dallas from “Three’s Company” and that clearly qualifies him to be my token not-quite-Euro-trash friend.

Nino and his lovely mother, Esther, have had a thriving catering business for years and recently opened up a cafe to bring their Austro-French inspired delights to the masses. Esther once made a fondu that was so good it left me incapacitated for 72 hours, so you can trust that this is not just your average Dean & Deluca knock-off. The FOOD + LAB is smooth and clean, specializing in marketplace fresh sandwiches, salads, sides, and produce. It is certainly a welcomed alternative to over-priced nuevo-California wannabe junk that seems to pass for cuisine in this town (ummm, Toast anyone?). When you are in the hood, definitely go check them out.

Food + Lab, 7253 Santa Monica Boulevard, between Poinsettia Drive and North Poinsettia Place, West Hollywood (323-851-7120 or foodlabcatering.com)

January 23, 2009

QUIZ KNOWS
Food + Lab Cafe and Marketplace

1. Food + Lab = ___________.
a) -14
b) 5/8
c) A new green-minded cafe and marketplace serving a tasty array of Austrian- and French-inspired food made with local, farm-fresh produce and all-natural ingredients.

2. Which mother-son team is the genius behind this operation?
a) Lucille and Buster Bluth
b) Elyse and Alex P. Keaton
c) Esther and Nino Linsmayer

3. Which of the following is not available?
a) Grilled organic chicken with roasted plums and honey-whipped mascarpone sandwich, homemade Bircher muesli with cream and apples, Abbondio grapefruit and strawberry soda
b) Environmentally friendly, biodegradable flatware; recycled menus and paper products
c) Pesticides, hormones, or nitrates

4. Do you pronounce the plus sign or what?
a) Nope, it’s just Food Lab.
b) Yep, if said with a convincing Austrian accent.
c) All of the above.

Key: The answer to all questions is c (as in, see you there real soon).

Food + Lab, 7253 Santa Monica Boulevard, between Poinsettia Drive and North Poinsettia Place, West Hollywood (323-851-7120 or foodlabcatering.com).