I have been remiss in writing, but at this point, I am going with the flow. There is such chaos and much that I am attempting to keep at bay, and I want to think about positive thoughts.
Last week, we spent some time in LA. I did not drive up to the Palisades or other areas destroyed in the fires, but I plan on doing it when I return. I have seen the remnants of a fire before, but this is an entirely different animal. The city felt a bit on edge, like a light sadness hanging overhead. The west side did not seem as crowded as before. The destitude is huge yet there does not seem to be much movement or leadership for those affected by the fires, or those who live anywhere in Los Angeles. The water hydrants weren’t up to speed, the electrical wires were not maintained, etc., etc.,. Doesn’t give anyone a feeling of safety.
One of the things I love to do and haven’t done in a few years is drive down to San Gabriel Valley with a group and eat the best thing they make at a few spots. The places were jammed at 2 pm on a Tuesday. Emily joined in this time, and we used to do the same thing when she was a kid in Chinatown in NYC. The first time we did SGV was in 2016, with me, Fred, and Ben Leventhal. This time Fred dropped out and we added in Chef Jeff, Emily and my brother. Great convos.
Only a few highlights, Kang Kang Food Court, noted as one of the best 101 restaurants in LA. They tout this frequently throughout the space. The place is truly a dump, a bit like a shitty deli with questionable food that they scoop into styrofoam containers for you but the Sheng Jian Bao, a lightly pork fried soup dumpling might have been the best I have ever had.
Lunasia was the real deal. Everything there was delicious, from the egg custard tarts to the oversized shumai, but the scrambled eggs stuck with me. Soft scrambled, as they should be, with a touch of an asian oil mixture that changed the entire dish. I need to figure out what the combo is.
Afterwards, I kept thinking about the state of food in the US and how we have allowed this country to become lax on products. The products are giving us cancer and making us fat but create money, so the government looked the other ways on rules and regulations since since companies are getting wealthy but we have pharma to fix it and everyone reaps the cash. Perhaps that is the ugly side of capitalism biting at all of our heels.
But then I snapped out of it and thought, have another dumpling and enjoy.
