Eat, Drink + Be Merry. Food, Travel, Photography, Design + Music in Los Angeles and Other Parts of the Earth.

I started working in the Culver City/Palms/Mar Vista area about 4 months ago. I was stoked upon receiving the job offer because I knew I would have good eats. With places like Café Brasil, Versailles, Beacon and even Sawtelle Blvd. (for longer lunch breaks), this new job would prove beneficial to my tummy and wallet. One day, with only $6 in my pocket, I drove around seeking a low-budget haven. No problem. Some of you know that I can make the most out of nothing, at places like Souplantation. What could I get? McDonald’s? No. In & Out? No way, I’m pro-Fatburger. Wendy’s? No, something about square patties seems unfitting. After passing Overland Avenue, I caught a red & white-striped building with a banner advertising a whole rotisserie chicken for only $5.95. Nice. A roasted chicken is definitely healthier than one swimming in the Deep Fried Ocean.

Upon walking in, I noticed three different things going on. Larco Mar not only serves Peruvian rotisserie chicken, but also has Mexican food and a decked out bakery with Mexican cakes and pastries. It was dead inside though. The cashier was sitting on a chair, absorbing the overly-dramatic soap operas on Telemundo. One of the cooks leaned against the counter with a towel draped over his shoulder. This was a ghost town and of course I got stares because, well, I’m not Peruvian. And maybe it’s the fact that they haven’t seen a customer since last week. I was gonna suggest that they buy an inflatable chicken that they can stack on their roof. The large clown/gorilla floats you see at car dealerships. That should let people know that they exist.

I didn’t feel like ordering a whole chicken so I went for the ¼ chicken with two side orders combo for $4.95, which comes out to $5.36. I was safe, and still $0.64 richer. I could use that for stuff like bum donations, sticky-hand toys from the vending machines or Chiclets. In addition to the $0.64, I also had about $1 worth of change. I ordered a ham croquette and ground beef empanada, which came out to like $1.25. So actually, I was $0.11 richer.

As I waited for my food, I noticed a recognizable logo on the rotisserie ovens. Apparently, our buddies here at Larco Mar found Boston Market rotisserie ovens on Craigslist or something. Funny. At least take the logo off. Nobody wears clothing with the price tags or size stickers still on them right?

A. 1/4 Chicken with 2 Side Orders – If you’re not health-conscious, definitely go for the dark meat because it’s moist and flavorful. The chicken was delicious. I asked the lady for some tortillas, which she gave for free, and made little tacos with the green Peruvian hot sauce. If you’ve been to Mario’s Peruvian & Seafood, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Addictive stuff. A few weeks later, I ordered the whole roasted chicken for $6 and 1/2 of it was moist (dark meat), and other being quite dry (white meat). I recommend this meal over the whole chicken. The rice and beans were average.

B. Ham Croquette and Ground Beef Empanada – Valued at $1.25, these are fun things to try. The ham croquette looks like a mozzarella stick but isn’t that tasty. What they meant by ham was really corned beef. It was mushy and just strange tasting. The empanada, on the other hand, was yum. Perfectly spiced and moist.

C. Cake City – Larco Mar is an activity center. While you’re waiting for your order, you can check out their bakery and cake designs. If you’re not into sweets, well you’re stuck with Mexican soap operas.

D. Boston Market, I mean, Larco Mar Rotisserie Ovens – Look at those babies in the chicken carousel.

E. Boston Market, I mean, Larco Mar – The resemblance is uncanny.

Next time you’re left with $6, don’t give in to the fast food joints. Larco Mar is there to save you. Thanks for reading.

Larco Mar Peruvian Rotisserie
10825 Venice Blvd.
West Los Angeles, Ca. 90034
(310) 838-0375

Last night, my friends and I started off the summer with an evening concert at the bowl. Being a huge fan of bossanova, I couldn’t miss Sergio Mendes’ 40th Anniversary show. Many of you may remember his KOST-song, “Never Gonna Let You Go”, but that doesn’t do any justice for this very-talented musician. He made a comeback recently and employed a new style of music featuring Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest), India Arie, John Legend and the super sell-outs Black Eyed Peas. If you haven’t heard his CD, definitely check it out.

So to make the evening even more ‘bossanovy’, I decided to prepare a Brazilian-style meal for the eight of us. The day before, I planned my menu by looking at Café Brasil and Bossanova’s menus…

Garlic Skirt Steak
Chicken Stroganoff with Mushrooms (not pictured)
Feijoada (Pork/Black Bean Stew)
Fried Plantains
Sauteed Collard Greens
Café Brasil-style Salsa
Cheese-bread Balls
Garlic Rice

Mmmm, yes, tons of garlic. I love South American food because it’s so simple and fresh. With wine flowing and iPod bumping, I started cooking yesterday at 12:30 pm and finished at 5 pm. I really need to get a headband because when I’m cooking I’m all over the place. Here’s what I used for each dish:

Garlic Skirt Steak
I used skirt steak because it’s thin and holds marinades well. I added kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder, meat tenderizer powder, fresh garlic, fresh onions, olive oil and a little bit of vinegar. I marinated the meat in the fridge for a good 3 hours so they definitely got to know each other well. Grill the meat and serve. Tastes good with a squeeze of lime over it.

Chicken Stroganoff with Mushrooms
Pan-fry some chicken breast until it’s 75% done. Remove and cook mushrooms and onions in the chicken fat with fresh garlic. Add as much cream as you need and throw the chicken back in once it comes to a boil. The recipe calls for sour cream, but I prefer crème fraîche which is rich and sour. Add ketchup for color. This dish should be slightly orange-pink. Serve over egg noodles or rice. This dish was awesome!

Feijoada Black Bean Stew
Traditional feijoada takes a whole day to cook and the recipe calls for stuff like pig ears, tails, hooves, snouts, lips, etc. Since I didn’t have any of that in my fridge, I decided to just use bacon. I have never cooked beans nor will I ever again. I didn’t know that I had to soak beans over night. It took nearly 3 hours to cook these little bastards. Once they were tender enough, I added a few ladels of the beans into a frying pan along with bacon, garlic, butter, olive oil, bay leaves and oregano. i mashed the beans and added them back into the main pot. This technique makes the beans ‘creamier’ and ‘mushier’. Salt and pepper to taste and eat with steak or rice.

Fried Plantains
You can make these blindfolded, with hands-tied, and tongs in the mouth. Cut up the bananas and deep fry them in canola/vegetable oil. Instant gratification.

Sauteed Collard Greens
Collard greens have a bitter, mustard-like taste, so the addition of sautéed garlic and a few squeezes of lime really counter it. Take the leaves, and roll them up. Chiffonade the collard greens so that appear thread-like. Saute with garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Another one of those I-can-do-this-blindfolded dishes.

Café Brasil-Style Salsa
This is one of the reasons I keep going back to Café Brasil. I love their salsa. Chop up tomatoes (don’t use the core of the tomato – too watery), onions, American parsley (not flat-leaf) and green onions. Add some olive oil, salt and pepper – and here are the two secret ingredients I found from a friend… Soy Sauce and Mustard (not French’s or Heinz)! This was so fresh and tasty. It’s better to prepare this near serving time because it likes to wet its pants. I had to drain these 3-4 times.

Cheese-Bread Balls
Known as “Pao de Quiejo”, these are light and cheesy. They taste like Cheetos! Freaking Café Brasil sells these for $0.85 each. Complete ripoff. Come to think of it, Café Brasil is a complete ripoff with exception to their $6.95 executive lunches, only available during the weekdays. I bought the Yoki cheese-bread mix at this Brazilian market on Venice/Overland for $2.99. I was able to make 34 of these. We gobbled these yellow breadballs up like Pac-man.

Garlic Rice
Just add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, a little butter and salt to the water during the cooking process. Mix it around every few minutes. That’s it!

All of this goes well with a nice glass of Caipirinha (Brazilian Mojito) or a can of Guaraná, Brazil’s famous pop. I had heard that the guarana powder is also a performance enhancer. I have yet to experience that from a can of soda. And another thing, the people at Café Brasil charge $2.50 for a can of this. Go to the Brazilian market on Venice/Overland and get a 6-pack for $4.50.

We got to the Hollywood Bowl by 6 pm and I laid out the smorgasbord of Brazilian food. I made WAY too much food for the 8 of us. At one point in the show, I was so buzzed and tried to offer people the leftovers. Who would take food from a stranger? Four and a half hours of non-stop cooking sounds like a long time, but when the music is great, the wine is pouring and the friends aren’t throwing up your food in the trashcan, you can’t help but smile.

Thanks for reading.

Found this off the internet while searching for images on Google. I hope to god this isn’t real. Looks like two 10″ buns, 5 lbs. of ground beef, 13 tomatoes, 1/2 a lettuce, 16 slices of American cheese, a whole onion and 1/2 a jar of mayonnaise.