Figs
This beautiful fruit with a delicate, honey-like flavor can be used in myriad ways.
Ammo: At dinner, this restaurant serves an appetizer with thinly sliced San Daniele prosciutto, Point Reyes blue cheese and plump, ripe figs drizzled lightly with a syrupy balsamic reduction. An individual rustic dessert tart has a thin crust piled high with sliced figs. It’s topped with a dollop of mascarpone, which is just beginning to melt when the tart arrives. (Rustic fig tart, $6; figs, prosciutto and blue cheese, $14.) Ammo, 1155 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, (323) 871-2666.
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Lucques: Don’t miss this savory fig dish while it’s in season. Tender corn flan is topped with half a sliced grilled chicken, then a rich warm salad of grilled figs, arugula and prosciutto. (Grilled half chicken with warm salad, $21.) Lucques, 8474 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 655-6277.
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Traxx: Begin your meal with a frisee salad, which includes Parma prosciutto, balsamic poached figs and whole spiced almonds. There’s also a hearty, figgy entree--a fig polenta with jalapenos served with a center-cut roasted pork chop finished with a full-bodied balsamic and fig puree reduction. (Frisee salad with poached figs, $12. Mission fig polenta with roasted pork chop, $23.) Traxx, Union Station, 800 N. Alameda St., downtown L.A., (213) 625-1999.
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Tre Venezia: For dessert, dig your spoon into a bowl of poached figs in vanilla syrup topped with a large scoop of homemade chocolate gianduia ice cream finished with a splash of slivovitz (dry plum brandy). (Poached figs with gianduia ice cream, $11.) Tre Venezia, 119 W. Green St., Pasadena, (626) 795-4455.
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Angelini Osteria: Green and black figs are used at this charming, bustling spot. At lunch, as a special appetizer, you might find peeled green figs wrapped in delicate slices of prosciutto. For an entree, there’s a sliced Sonoma duck breast finished in the wood-fired oven and served with a Black Mission fig Chianti sauce. (Figs and prosciutto, $13; Sonoma duck breast with fresh fig Chianti sauce, $20 at lunch, $22 at dinner.) Angelini Osteria, 7313 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 297-0070.