Everyone knows I love foie gras, but I don't think anyone knows that Isabel likes the plump livers more than I do. Walking up Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz, she nearly caught her high heels in a sidewalk crack when I described the foie gras burgers I had at L'Atelier on a trip to Las Vegas in April. We both griped how California was being led astray by fascist foodies who lobbied for the ban of the production and sale of foie gras by 2012 because of concerns about how the geese and ducks were fattened to produce the oversized livers. Geese and ducks don't have gag reflexes, people! To show my support of the foie faction, I ordered a plate of chicken livers sauteed with pears in balsamic vinegar at Figaro Bistrot. The bitter frisee salad provided a bit of crunch that the croutons couldn't offer after soaking up all the vinegar. I also had some French fries. I was surprised that the restaurant didn't serve shoestring fries -- my favorite -- but the crinkle cut ones were crunchy and satisfying. A glass of pinot noir cleaned my palate, just in time for the arrival of Isabel's chocolate souffle.
Isabel didn't like the dessert so much because the chocolate was a little too bitter, leaving a strange aftertaste. A fan of bitter chocolate, I thought perhaps the mint sauce was the culprit for the funky flavor. But Isabel's sensitive tongue disapproved of the dark chocolate.
When Isabel was checking out the graffiti guys staring over her shoulder behind our outdoor table, I sneaked more spoonfuls of the chocolate souffle into my mouth. After dinner, we had a feast for our eyes at a late-night screening of "Snakes on a Plane" at the 79-year-old Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. We were disappointed that the venue was only a quarter full. Still, the anemic audience compensated for the emptiness by whooping and hollering when Samuel L. Jackson appeared on the screen and uttered his infamous lines ("Great, snakes on crack." + "I have had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane!"). The only thing better than foie was kitsch.
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