2 posts tagged “bread”

Flame

1422 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Flame2

Leaving work is kind of traumatic when you're waiting to be picked up. There are buses to dodge, crazed parents who seem to think that SUVs don't need to wait in lines, and kids who think that they are somehow protected from cars by an invisible force field.  But I persevered, managed to make my escape from campus, and went down Westwood Blvd to my favorite restaurant in Tehrangeles, Flame.

It's located on a stretch of Westwood that's full of Iranian ... excuse me, Persian ... businesses.  There are carpet stores that always seem to be having "going out of business" sales, book stores stocking all the books on the shah that you'd ever want, bakeries with vaguely French names, and a random Bulgarian restaurant (which my friend David and I have both seen and secretly want to try). On weekends, Flame is BUSY. But at 3:40 on Tuesday afternoon it's deserted. 

We got seated and immediately a basket of bread fresh from the tandoor appeared on the table. I really appreciate the touch of freshly baked bread in Persian restaurants. My other favorite Persian restaurant, Seaside Palace in Torrance, brings a plate of store-bought pita. Pitooey. 

Flame is a pretty elegant place. It has plush chairs, and etched glass pictures of ancient reliefs from Persepolis. There are two big flatscreens in the room that usually blast Persian pop music.  On this day, however, they were showing a Beyonce concert.  Someone sure liked some Beyonce. 

The tandoor has pride of place in the big dining room. It's a great idea -- the smell of fresh bread wafts throughout the dining room.  I ordered chicken koobideh -- chicken loaf skewered on a stick. I opted for sabzi polo instead of regular basmati.  In some places sabzi polo is called "green rice"  which doesn't exactly sound appetizing, I'll admit. Here it's made with nice fresh herbs (mostly dill, which I generally dislike, and possibly some cilantro -- but I pretend that it's not there).  I generally like the kabobs at Flame, and the sabzi polo is top notch. I still prefer the sabzi polo at Seaside Palace, but I like the koobideh at Flame.  Too bad they can't marry and have a child.

http://vahrehvah.com/index.php

I have been trying to make Indian bread FOR EVER. I have to say that my results have been somewhat ... lacking. But I am getting better. This guy makes everything look so easy.