RSS Feed
If you prefer to avoid the restaurant hoopla on New Year’s eve (we sure do), this city is thick with resources for great stay-at-home food and drink. Maybe this year you’re feeling more like serving a heaping platter of pastrami with local beer, or a pile of tamales with pomegranate margaritas? And if you’re the more traditional caviar-and-Champagne type, we’ve got some finds for you, too — after all, you’re going to pay a lot less ounce-for-ounce when you enjoy that caviar at home.
Tamales for the new year — Carrillo's got 'em
Carrillo’s Mexican Deli
It doesn’t get much better than piles of handmade beef, pork, chicken, chile-cheese or sweet corn tamales on New Year’s — unless they’re shipped directly to your front door.
19744 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, 818.887.6118, carrillostamales.com
You can splurge on caviar here, but the smoked fish and Georgian khinkali (spiced meat dumplings) are the real bargains. Just add ice-cold vodka and you’ve got a party.
4818 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village, 818.762.8980, no website
Claro’s
When food and wine are involved, it’s hard to imagine a culture that knows how to celebrate as well as the Italians. Pick up some antipasti at the deli counter and grab a box of imported pasta, bottle of Italian olive oil and house-made garlic-laced sausages from the market to cook up your own feast. And a couple of bottles of Barbera while you’re at it.
1003 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, 626.288.2026 and 101 W. Whittier Blvd., La Habra, 562.690.2844, claros.com
Just a few of Nicole's cheeses
Nicole’s Gourmet Foods
There are enough French cheeses, patés and pounds of foie gras at this café and market to fill you and your party platters, but call ahead and order the incredible gratin of scalloped potatoes and the dark chocolate mousse. Your diet doesn’t start until tomorrow.
921 Meridian Ave., South Pasadena, 626.403.5751, nicolesgourmetfoods.com
You’re saving a bundle by not going out for an inflated restaurant dinner, so why not use the savings on a kitchen appliance that will upgrade your weekend dinners in 2010 — a pasta maker, some chocolate molds or maybe a new knife? The pantry items here, such as Beluga lentils, imported Irish butter, French cheeses and artisan chocolates, will get your New Year’s dinner started. Swing by the farmers’ market on your way home for some produce, and you’ll be ready to ring it in.
8824 National Blvd., Culver City, 310.559.4770, surfasonline.com
This Paul Berthelot brut is one of Wine Expo's Champagne finds.
This wine shop may be more known today as a mecca for little-known Italian wines, but when it opened more than 15 years ago it was primarily a Champagne warehouse. The selection of bubbly is still one of the best in town. Add the artisan tequilas and beers carefully selected by resident agave-and-hops geek Erik Moreno to the mix, and you’re bound to spend more than you intended. Beer + Champagne + tequila = It’s a good thing you decided to stay home this New Year’s.
2933 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, 310.828.4428, wineexpo.com
Related posts:
- Home Brew Clubs
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a keg of...
- The Caviar Life on the Cheap
One might assume, given the reputation of Paris’s famed Petrossian...
- A Good Eating Year
Each passing year is more jam-packed with work, family, chores,...
- Nicole’s Warehouse Sale
South Pasadenans and Francophiles from all over L.A. know Nicole’s...
- Catching Up on the Posts
I dared to leave town for nine days and have...
