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Pasadena Star News
Article Published: Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 4:30:03 PM PST
South America in Glendale's Little Armenia
Peruvian, Argentinian and Brazil eateries thrive on large appetites and
impressive servings
It's easy enough to perceive Glendale as the Little Armenia of Los Angeles.
And for good reason -- the city is supposedly home to one of the largest
Armenian populations outside of Armenia. And, as is often the case, there
are sufficiently many Armenian restaurants to act as the proof of the
pudding.
But if you take a good look around, you might also notice that the various
cuisines of South America are exceedingly well represented in Glendale.
Indeed, you'll find quite a mix of them right on grand Brand Boulevard. If
such were your druthers, you could dine in Brazil, Argentina and Peru... all
in one night.
The Brazilian churrascaria flies in the face of just about every notion held
dear to the nutritionists of America -- which is why we like it so much.
It's an exercise in unlimited amounts of protein, much of which is grilled
and even blackened, and very well salted. Along with the meat, you can stuff
yourself with fried polenta, fried bananas, and an empanada variation called
pastel. There's a buffet as well of pastas and potatoes, and lots of things
made with cheese. It's a gutbuster of a meal found at a number of venues
throughout the San Gabriel Valley (like Green Field, Picanha and Roda Viva).
And in Glendale, you'll find the experience at Gauchos Village --which
recently moved from a small storefront location, to a new, sprawling, rather
grand space, with live music, big crowds and lots of food. Thanks to its new
location, Gauchos Village has become one of the premiere churrascarias in
town. (It's got a heck of a busy bar as well, called the Carnaval Bar.)
In a room that looks as if it were lifted right off the streets of Rio, with
servers dressed in puffy white gaucho shirts, with bolo ties and brightly
colored sashes, Gauchos Village feels unexpectedly authentic; it actually
comes as a surprise to find they speak English within. There are many long
tables, occupied by large groups, with lots of wood, and a sense of manic
joy that comes from knowing that there's no end to the amount of beef ribs
you can consume.
The ritual is fairly well-established. You begin your meal with a visit (or
two, or three) to what's referred to as a "salad bar," though there's much
more than salad to be found on it. There are heaping platters of rice done
several ways, long-cooked beans, thickly slathered cheese bread, the
lead-heavy yucca flour dish called farofa (like poi, an acquired taste),
even chicken Stroganoff and chicken Milanese. For those who want to begin
with something a bit less filling, there are a multitude of salads -- try
the hearts of palm with cucumber, the artichoke and cucumber, the tabouli,
the garbanzo bean salad -- or just a platter of pickles and cherry peppers,
which decidedly gets the juices flowing.
After that, it's time for the 'que kids to show up with their skewers and
their knives. (The menu actually calls the place "An Atkins Dieter's
Paradise.") To cut you thick shards of beef sirloin, tenderloin, tri-tip,
garlic steak (when they say "garlic," take them seriously), filet mignon,
ribs (beef and pork), pork sausage (both Polish and Brazilian), and many
chicken parts (including long skewers threaded through a drumline of chicken
hearts).
No matter how much you promise yourself that you won't go overboard, you
always do. It's part of the process. I know I'm in trouble -- when I go back
for cheese bread... for dessert.
Some years ago, when El Morfi was situated around the corner on California
Avenue, I wrote an article about the place, praising a single dish -- the
fugazetta pizza. Which still on the menu, and still awfully good, an
Argentinian take on pizza, that's a close cousin to the calzone, topped with
loads of onions and garlic, and stuffed with ham, cheese, onions and garlic.
Back then, I described it as, "a messy creation, sort of a pizza meets a
Sloppy Joe sandwich -- just terrific." I stand by that. And by a fair amount
of the food served here as well.
El Morfi is an Argentinian-Italian restaurant, a combination that's far less
strange than it sounds, for a sizable chunk of the population of Argentina
is Italian. As befits the Argentinian-Italian style of cooking, there's
plenty of pasta on the menu, heartily seasoned, effusively served --
linguine pescatore piled high with mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops and
calamari in either a red or a white sauce (I prefer the red); cannelloni and
lasagna, filled variously with chicken, beef and spinach; and a variation on
potato gnocchi called "noquis," flavored with estofado sauce.
As also befits the Argentinian-Italian style, there's lots of meat on the
menu -- Argentinian chefs make wonderful grilled sweetbreads (mollejas) and
black sausage (morcilla). They do a great chicken as well, marinated with
garlic and olive oil, and grilled until the skin crackles.
And by all means, try the appetizer called matambre -- "hunger killer" --
rolled flank steak stuffed with eggs, carrots and peppers. For dessert,
there's very good flan and bread pudding. There's no tiramisu, a reminder
that this is still Argentinian cuisine.
The El Pollo Inka chain is the best known purveyor of Peruvian food in
SoCal. But it's not the only one. What used to be El Loco del Pollo
Authentic Peruvian Cuisine changed its name recently to Lola's. But not much
else has changed, it's still a fine place to go for Peruvian chicken (pollo
a la brasa), chicken cooked long and slow on a rotisserie until it just
about tumbles from the bone.
When it comes to the chicken -- the pollo a la brasa -- at Lola's, the
ritual is simple. You have a choice of a quarter chicken for $6.99, a half
chicken for $8.99 and a whole chicken for $17.99. Since the chicken travels
very well, and tastes great the next day, it's a good policy to go for the
biggest one you can. The chicken comes with a pair of sauces for dipping,
one very garlicky, one almost as garlicky, though sauce isn't really needed
-- this is chicken that tastes as good as chicken possibly can.
But there's lots more to Peruvian cooking than chicken (though there are
another eight chicken dishes on the menu, including a fine pollo saltado, in
which the chicken is stir-fried with french fries; it sounds odd, but it
tastes great). Papa huancaina is a boiled potato topped with an addictive
garlic sauce (yes, they do like their garlic here!), one of the best things
anyone does to a spud. (Ocopa is a tasty variation, in which the topping is
a peanut sauce.)
There are sundry ceviches -- they did invent the notion of "cooking" fish in
lime juice in the region. And for those who need fish, seafood is ubiquitous
at Lola's -- try the saltado de mariscos -- shrimp, calamari and octopus
tossed with french fries; or the arroz chaufa de camarones, which is
essentially Peruvian fried rice (it's even flavored with soy sauce).
To wash it all down, try one of the Peruvian soft drinks -- Chicha Morada,
Maracuya or Inka Cola. They're very sweet, which is needed to deal with all
that garlic.
- Chop Shop
- Japanese Gourmet
- Savory Shabu Shabu
- Just noodlin' around
- A work in progress: Cafe Atlantic is on the right path
- Pasta Bar None
- A mouthful of Middle Eastern delights
- For the best Chinese seafood, read the walls
- Noodle-Mania
- A pioneering Panda
- Tastebud heaven
- Ethnically-eclectic classics
- Frills-free food
- Meet The Press
- Pan-Asian fusion at its best
- The ambience of Mandaloun
Article Published: Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 4:30:03 PM PST
South America in Glendale's Little Armenia
Peruvian, Argentinian and Brazil eateries thrive on large appetites and
impressive servings
It's easy enough to perceive Glendale as the Little Armenia of Los Angeles.
And for good reason -- the city is supposedly home to one of the largest
Armenian populations outside of Armenia. And, as is often the case, there
are sufficiently many Armenian restaurants to act as the proof of the
pudding.
But if you take a good look around, you might also notice that the various
cuisines of South America are exceedingly well represented in Glendale.
Indeed, you'll find quite a mix of them right on grand Brand Boulevard. If
such were your druthers, you could dine in Brazil, Argentina and Peru... all
in one night.
The Brazilian churrascaria flies in the face of just about every notion held
dear to the nutritionists of America -- which is why we like it so much.
It's an exercise in unlimited amounts of protein, much of which is grilled
and even blackened, and very well salted. Along with the meat, you can stuff
yourself with fried polenta, fried bananas, and an empanada variation called
pastel. There's a buffet as well of pastas and potatoes, and lots of things
made with cheese. It's a gutbuster of a meal found at a number of venues
throughout the San Gabriel Valley (like Green Field, Picanha and Roda Viva).
And in Glendale, you'll find the experience at Gauchos Village --which
recently moved from a small storefront location, to a new, sprawling, rather
grand space, with live music, big crowds and lots of food. Thanks to its new
location, Gauchos Village has become one of the premiere churrascarias in
town. (It's got a heck of a busy bar as well, called the Carnaval Bar.)
In a room that looks as if it were lifted right off the streets of Rio, with
servers dressed in puffy white gaucho shirts, with bolo ties and brightly
colored sashes, Gauchos Village feels unexpectedly authentic; it actually
comes as a surprise to find they speak English within. There are many long
tables, occupied by large groups, with lots of wood, and a sense of manic
joy that comes from knowing that there's no end to the amount of beef ribs
you can consume.
The ritual is fairly well-established. You begin your meal with a visit (or
two, or three) to what's referred to as a "salad bar," though there's much
more than salad to be found on it. There are heaping platters of rice done
several ways, long-cooked beans, thickly slathered cheese bread, the
lead-heavy yucca flour dish called farofa (like poi, an acquired taste),
even chicken Stroganoff and chicken Milanese. For those who want to begin
with something a bit less filling, there are a multitude of salads -- try
the hearts of palm with cucumber, the artichoke and cucumber, the tabouli,
the garbanzo bean salad -- or just a platter of pickles and cherry peppers,
which decidedly gets the juices flowing.
After that, it's time for the 'que kids to show up with their skewers and
their knives. (The menu actually calls the place "An Atkins Dieter's
Paradise.") To cut you thick shards of beef sirloin, tenderloin, tri-tip,
garlic steak (when they say "garlic," take them seriously), filet mignon,
ribs (beef and pork), pork sausage (both Polish and Brazilian), and many
chicken parts (including long skewers threaded through a drumline of chicken
hearts).
No matter how much you promise yourself that you won't go overboard, you
always do. It's part of the process. I know I'm in trouble -- when I go back
for cheese bread... for dessert.
Some years ago, when El Morfi was situated around the corner on California
Avenue, I wrote an article about the place, praising a single dish -- the
fugazetta pizza. Which still on the menu, and still awfully good, an
Argentinian take on pizza, that's a close cousin to the calzone, topped with
loads of onions and garlic, and stuffed with ham, cheese, onions and garlic.
Back then, I described it as, "a messy creation, sort of a pizza meets a
Sloppy Joe sandwich -- just terrific." I stand by that. And by a fair amount
of the food served here as well.
El Morfi is an Argentinian-Italian restaurant, a combination that's far less
strange than it sounds, for a sizable chunk of the population of Argentina
is Italian. As befits the Argentinian-Italian style of cooking, there's
plenty of pasta on the menu, heartily seasoned, effusively served --
linguine pescatore piled high with mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops and
calamari in either a red or a white sauce (I prefer the red); cannelloni and
lasagna, filled variously with chicken, beef and spinach; and a variation on
potato gnocchi called "noquis," flavored with estofado sauce.
As also befits the Argentinian-Italian style, there's lots of meat on the
menu -- Argentinian chefs make wonderful grilled sweetbreads (mollejas) and
black sausage (morcilla). They do a great chicken as well, marinated with
garlic and olive oil, and grilled until the skin crackles.
And by all means, try the appetizer called matambre -- "hunger killer" --
rolled flank steak stuffed with eggs, carrots and peppers. For dessert,
there's very good flan and bread pudding. There's no tiramisu, a reminder
that this is still Argentinian cuisine.
The El Pollo Inka chain is the best known purveyor of Peruvian food in
SoCal. But it's not the only one. What used to be El Loco del Pollo
Authentic Peruvian Cuisine changed its name recently to Lola's. But not much
else has changed, it's still a fine place to go for Peruvian chicken (pollo
a la brasa), chicken cooked long and slow on a rotisserie until it just
about tumbles from the bone.
When it comes to the chicken -- the pollo a la brasa -- at Lola's, the
ritual is simple. You have a choice of a quarter chicken for $6.99, a half
chicken for $8.99 and a whole chicken for $17.99. Since the chicken travels
very well, and tastes great the next day, it's a good policy to go for the
biggest one you can. The chicken comes with a pair of sauces for dipping,
one very garlicky, one almost as garlicky, though sauce isn't really needed
-- this is chicken that tastes as good as chicken possibly can.
But there's lots more to Peruvian cooking than chicken (though there are
another eight chicken dishes on the menu, including a fine pollo saltado, in
which the chicken is stir-fried with french fries; it sounds odd, but it
tastes great). Papa huancaina is a boiled potato topped with an addictive
garlic sauce (yes, they do like their garlic here!), one of the best things
anyone does to a spud. (Ocopa is a tasty variation, in which the topping is
a peanut sauce.)
There are sundry ceviches -- they did invent the notion of "cooking" fish in
lime juice in the region. And for those who need fish, seafood is ubiquitous
at Lola's -- try the saltado de mariscos -- shrimp, calamari and octopus
tossed with french fries; or the arroz chaufa de camarones, which is
essentially Peruvian fried rice (it's even flavored with soy sauce).
To wash it all down, try one of the Peruvian soft drinks -- Chicha Morada,
Maracuya or Inka Cola. They're very sweet, which is needed to deal with all
that garlic.
- Chop Shop
- Japanese Gourmet
- Savory Shabu Shabu
- Just noodlin' around
- A work in progress: Cafe Atlantic is on the right path
- Pasta Bar None
- A mouthful of Middle Eastern delights
- For the best Chinese seafood, read the walls
- Noodle-Mania
- A pioneering Panda
- Tastebud heaven
- Ethnically-eclectic classics
- Frills-free food
- Meet The Press
- Pan-Asian fusion at its best
- The ambience of Mandaloun