People love getting the inside scoop on things, including recipes for favorite dishes from popular restaurants. That’s the concept behind Los Angeles Cult Recipes by Victor Garnier Astorino. The book is as much a travelogue as it is a cookbook.We asked writer Jessica Dixon to give the book a try and she had a delicious time doing it. 

Be sure to see the recipe for Chicken PAD SEE EW, below.

In Los Angeles Cult Recipes, Victor Garnier chases the city’s spirit through its many neighborhoods, gathering iconic favorites from Santa Monica to Studio City, Hermosa Beach to Hollywood. Garnier’s reverent collection of recipes serves as a guide, transporting readers to a smoothie stand at Muscle Beach or a diner in Inglewood.

The dishes featured here are accessible and easy to adapt, and while plenty feature avocado and kale, carnivores will delight in the adapted In-N-Out burger, or the legendary French dip sandwich from Chinatown’s Philippe the Original. I made two California classics: the açaí breakfast bowl and avocado toast.

Naturewell’s Granola Breakfast Bowl proved the perfect Instagram-worthy summer breakfast. I topped mine with fresh strawberries, bananas, and desiccated coconut as instructed, but I swapped raw nuts for homemade granola.

A beautiful breakfast bowl from Naturewell’s. Photo by Jessica Dixon.

The Avocado & Radish Toast – courtesy of the Art District’s Zinc Café & Market & Bar – featured a simple radish salad and a dollop of mashed and seasoned avocado atop toasted artisan bread, all sprinkled with fresh dill and chives. The bright lemon juice – used in both the radish salad and the avocado mash – nicely played off the herbs and the peppery radish.

The makings of Avocado and Radish Toast from LA Cult Recipes. Photo by Jessica Dixon.

The delicious finished product – Avocado and Radish Toast. Photo by Jessica Dixon.

The book itself is decidedly hip, with gritty photographs of skateboarders and surfers. The author’s meals are often displayed with spent napkins or half-empty ketchup bottles in the background, lending an air of authenticity and intimacy. Perusing these pages truly feels like an epic food tour, and I plan to peek through this window into L.A. the next time I’m craving avocados and adventure.  — Review by Jessica Dixon

Take a journey to the city of Californian dreams through 100 iconic recipes that capture the spirit of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Cult Recipes is available on Amazon.com and other booksellers. 

Recipe from Los Angeles Cult Recipes

Pad See Yu from the LA Cult Recipes cookbook. Photo courtesy the cookbook.

THAI DISHES

Chicken PAD SEE EW

Serves 1

100 g (3½ oz) wide flat rice noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 garlic clove

125 g (4½ oz) skinless chicken breast fillets, cut into pieces

1 egg

½ teaspoon rice vinegar

½ teaspoon soy sauce

1½ tablespoons sugar

1 handful Chinese broccoli (gai larn)

½ teaspoon dark soy sauce

½ teaspoon oyster sauce

½ teaspoon fish sauce

1 pinch white pepper

Cook the noodles as directed on the packet. Pour the oil into a very hot frying pan. Add the chopped garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, until browned. Add the cooked rice noodles and mix well. Add the egg and stir vigorously for about 2 minutes to coat all of the mixture. Add the rice vinegar, regular soy sauce and sugar, continuing to stir vigorously for about 2 minutes. Add the Chinese broccoli, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute. Finish with white pepper, and mix.

“What an honour it was that Henry opened the doors of his kitchen to me and I could finally find out how to achieve this complex flavour. At the bottom of my apartment in Santa Monica, I crossed the threshold of this Thai restaurant, family- run since 1986, countless times. This is the dish I miss most when I am in France, it is the taste of Los Angeles for me,” Author Victor Garnier Astorino.

Hungry for more?

Read Jessica Dixon’s other articles featured in RealFoodTraveler.com, here. 

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