LOTS OF LEFTOVERS : 1986: Year of the Search for Divine Heavenly Grits

If I were going to go out for breakfast, lunch and dinner today, this is where you’d find me:

I’d start the day at Hugo’s in West Hollywood. Unlike Berkeley, where dozens of places serve fabulous food in the morning, L.A. is not a breakfast town. This is probably because we’ve got too many joggers. Luckily, there’s Hugo’s. Hugo’s has the best coffee in the city to go with irresistible offerings like eggs carbonara , pannettone French toast and pumpkin-nut muffins. The place is teeming with industry types just enjoying the morning meal; the one’s that aren’t jogging, that is.

For lunch, I’d go to Langer’s Deli; their classic pastrami and corned beef falls just short of spiritual enlightenment. These home-cured, hand-sliced sandwiches, served on slices of steaming, freshly baked corn rye, are so tender they fall apart from a hard stare. Langer’s is located in a Latino neighborhood near downtown L.A., giving extra New York flavor to all the dishes. But I really don’t know how the other dishes taste; I’ve never gotten past the pastrami.

I’d end the day at Chinois on Main in Santa Monica, which is still the most interesting restaurant in Los Angeles. The fusion of Chinese, Japanese, and Western ideas shock the palate and delight the senses. OK, it is expensive, and OK, very few Chinese people accept what they are trying to do, but let’s face it, it’s original. Say what you like about Wolfgang Puck, he’s a real creator and 50 years from now I suspect we’ll all look back and see how much he changed our eating habits.