Cozymeal: an online foodie facilitator

Here’s an interesting idea for your next party or get-acquainted event: team building through food. Everyone eats. Everyone has opinions about food. Everyone can learn a few more cooking tricks. There’s a new website in town where you can book the cooking class or food-centric gathering of your choice: Cozymeal.

Cozymeal started in San Francisco when a group of professional and personal chefs came together to offer in-home, freshly made, gourmet dinners to the Average Joe. They recently set up shop in Los Angeles, offering chef-led meals from Santa Monica to San Fernando to Silver Lake.

PHOTO: A foodie’s tour through the Grand Central Market

Browsing their website, I decided the experience that would interest this paper’s readers the most is their Farmer’s Market Tour and Brunch. Taking a recent tour with Cozymeal Chef Elaine Good at downtown L.A.’s Grand Central Market, I learned, among other things, the history of food in Los Angeles, the proper way to make mole, where to find gluten and sugar alternatives, and the emotional value of yuca. It was great fun and quite delicious.

Read on to see if this is something you’d like to do with friends or colleagues.

Chef Elaine led me around to her favorite haunts: Valeria’s spice shop where she buys chiles for her salt-free spice blends; the produce stalls to choose in-season fruits and vegetables; and (after skating by the 30-person queue at trendy Eggslut) a favorite pupusa spot called Sarita’s. This is one of those stalls with built-in counters and intractable stools that have probably been there since Grand Central Market (GCM) opened in 1917. It reeks of history but not ennui.

Jose took our order with bubbly enthusiasm, giving samples of the horchata Salvadorena and suggesting chicharrones with our yuca. Our hand-patted, round, grilled corn pupusas came stuffed with pork, beef and queso and topped with a fermented, chili-flecked slaw. A great way to start the day, especially with the side of fried yuca, a food Chef Elaine calls “happy food.”

“It’s one of the few natural sources of Vitamin K,” she explains, “which gives you a feeling of well-being.” Her philosophy is to prepare and eat only foods that have positive effects on the body and mind. The food should increase one’s “stamina, strength and mental focus.” No GMOs, refined sugar or gluten (“brain fogger”) for her clients.

The GCM was built at the end of World War I when major changes were going on in the food industry. The railroads, particularly those with refrigeration cars, turned California with its vast, sun-bathed San Joaquin Valley into the world’s largest food grower. It’s no wonder the GCM became a mecca for California-grown produce.

The GCM diminished in popularity in the ‘70s and ‘80s but recent development downtown and GCM’s current focus on prepared and artisanal foods, as opposed to raw ingredients, has made it rise from the ashes again.

The Grand Central Market has become a foodie destination for people from all over L.A. County. We met a young family from Pasadena sitting in the outdoor umbrella-shaded parklet with crispy-edged French toast from Valerie bake shop and yolky eggs from Eggslut. A cute millennial from Echo Park stood waiting for an egg sandwich before doing her weekly produce shopping (“It’s much cheaper here”) and locals grabbed a quick bite or cup of coffee before getting stuff done.

The metro rail stops nearby. Carparks are very close and only $5 all day on the weekends. Plus it’s a fun neighborhood to stroll through with the famous Bradbury building and Grauman’s Million Dollar Theater steps away. Combine your meal, perhaps, with a visit to the Central Library’s free exhibit of menus from classic Los Angeles restaurants, “To Live and Dine in L.A.”

While the trip to Grand Central Market was informative and enjoyable, it may not be the best choice for a Cozymeal experience. As I write this on a Sunday morning, Chef Elaine is guiding a group around a Westside organic farmers market, buying whatever looks good and is in season. They will take their booty back to Chef’s home in Palms to whip up brunch for the whole crew.

This same sort of experience could be possible with a visit to the Montrose Farmers Market or the La Cañada, Glendale, Burbank or Atwater markets. In those cases, it’s probably more convenient to take friends back to the host’s home. Incidentally, the Los Angeles Times has a great farmers market resource guide.

There is also the option to skip the farmers markets and have a Cozymeal chef come to your home (or theirs) and either lead a “team building” cooking class or prepare a private dining experience. It may be a lesson in rustic Italian, Latin fusion, classic California, you name it. The cost ranges from $55 to $109 per person, including food. Visit www.cozymeal.com.

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LISA DUPUY welcomes comments at LDupuy@aol.com.