Kid Hit Menu Items: KyoChon chicken emporium brings out the worst type of hypocrite in us. While we’re not a boneless-battered-and-fried-chicken-strip household, I generally try not to order nuggets and stuff when we’re out. (Mac n’ cheese, however, is another story.) We’re guilty of engaging in foodist high horse shenanigans; generally avoiding fast food, dragging our kids to farmers’ markets, steering them away from the Lunchables, etc. But when it comes to KyoChon Korean chicken, which appears to be too busy to build a proper website, we’re unabashed die-hard fans. Boxes of Salsal chicken strips – 10 pieces in a medium size; just enough for the boys’ dinner and maybe some lunch – are a triumph of recipe engineering and packaging design. Sometimes our oldest will nibble on a honey wing or two. I used to skip the dipping sauces, but he’s has a recent deepening relationship with ranch dressing. I try to make my own from scratch; it’s NOT the same, I’m told.

Adult Perks: The Korea-based chain is mostly known for its wings, less for the strips. It’s not about fancy trappings or special beverages here on 6th Street a couple blocks east of Western. If you want beer to complement the spicy signature wings, you’ll have to take packages home in glossy white bags. 

Pros: If I say I’m not going to have a salsal strip, for health reasons and because of the faint, mysterious green pepper flavor, I’m totally lying. When I feel obligated to eat something green to go with them, I’ll get a side of the mayo, sesame seed, and raisin-laced broccoli salad, and maybe some pickled radish. KyoChon has its system fairly streamlined and the menu is super simple, so orders called in ahead of time are usually waiting. Except for the large order I placed last fall for our son’s birthday party, which wasn’t ready at the specified time. But in the end, the kids had both Brooklyn Bagels and KyoChon breadcrumb and puffed rice-encased chicken spears to feast on, so all was right in the world. Speaking of trying to do right: KyoChon apparently uses antibiotic, hormone-free chicken, but I should still research that claim.

Cons: While the Manhattan location pulls out all the stops to make a splash at the corner 5^th and 32^nd Street at the edge of that city’s Koreatown, the central L.A. outpost is fairly tame. No high tech design tricks or spiraling staircases, just a clean, simple interior with some modern practical plastic chairs, and pagers to alert you when the order is done. We had one ridiculously slow service experience in the Manhattan restaurant; I assume they worked out those kinks because a near-half-hour wait is the absolute death knell of any Midtown food business. As for the other SoCal KyoChons, I have no idea what those are like. A couple of the mall locations have closed, sadly.

Changing Station: No.

High Chairs: No, if you need a more comfortable set-up, hover around the one built-in cushy banquette to nab one of those seats.

Parking and Access: KyoChon on 6^th fills the corner storefront of a block-long strip mall. And like the other high turnover, hot spot developments, parking has become inadequate. So that’s why the once-bizarre phenomenon of Koreatown strip mall valet is something we’ve all learned to get used to. During the off hours the attendants let you park on your own.

Other Tidbits: We can all agree on KyoChon in our family, but what about when I want something else to go with the meal? Like dumplings, for example? It took seeing Anthony Bourdain’s insightful and not-at-all-cliché Parts Unknown show in which he tours K-Town with locally raised creative heroes Roy Choi and David Choe to finally get me to a well-known restaurant just directly south of KyoChon that 100% takes care of this issue. However cliche and not local insider-y at all of an impulse, when we finished watching the episode at around 9:45 on a weeknight, I checked to see if Myung In Dumplings was still open, thinking I’d run down and pick up a couple orders. It was closed.

Alright, who was I kidding — I was already in my PJs and ready for bed. The alternative version of myself who lives in the downtown Arts District and drives a biodiesel converted Mercedes 230 CE coupe from the early 80′s would do that.

Anyway, I went to the bare bones dumpling shop on Olympic, not too far from where my parents live, for lunch the next day. The lady at the counter skeptically laughed when my friend and I ordered two types of comically puffy steamed buns that are the size of small car tires (or at least as big ones you’d find attached to a very large toy truck), a plate of pan fried pork dumplings, and a steamer basket dotted with Myung In’s version of overstuffed pork and shrimp shumai style ones. All just for us. Plus they give you banchan here. “Oh, but we’re taking the leftovers to coworkers and family members,” we assured her. Her response didn’t change all that much. Truth is, I saw at least four other types of dishes of varying dumpling skin thickness, fillings and shapes I want to try, but that will wait for later. (Sorry, All Family, our previous go-to- Korean dumpling spot on Crenshaw.) My youngest might have thought the cultural crossover shumai I brought home were the “soup ducklings” he already knows, but he was happy to destroy whatever I put in front of him. So from now on, KyoChon might be a two-stop deal: chicken for the boys, dumplings/ducklings for the rest of us. One more useful fact: In case I ever do want to follow through on my late night K-Town snack impulses, KyoChon keeps good company with the many other after hours shops in the neighborhood. It’s open until 3 a.m.

KYOCHON CHICKEN

3833 W. 6th Street, Koreatown (between Serrano and Hobart), and multiple locations
(213) 739-9292
Cuisine: Korean, Chicken
Price: $
Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 3 a.m., daily

MYUNG IN DUMPLINGS

3109 W. Olympic Blvd. (between Harvard and Kingsley)
(213) 381-3568
Cuisine: Korean/Dumplings
Price: $
Hours: Monday – Saturday, 8 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.; Sunday 9:30 a.m. – 9 p.m.

 Kid Hit Menu Items: As any kitchen outfitted with one well should, Milo & Olive in Santa Monica takes the opportunity to show off its custom-built wood-burning oven that makes its beautiful, blistered pies. We might not order pepperoni regularly in general, but this is the place to go buck wild with the crispy pepperoni pie, piled thick with the good cured stuff. Pizzas can be semi-customized with egg, prosciutto, arugula, and anchovy add-on options that build on the signature topping combos. A small pasta menu included a ricotta gnocchi, a pork sausage ragu dish, and the spring-appropriate cavatelli that I ordered came brimming with green garlic and flowering broccoli. Those greens and chili peppers was a turn off for our kids, but one never knows. The 6 year-old seriously dug the strong anchovy dressing and fried capers on an arugula and radicchio salad. After dinner, grab a loaf of bread to go and pastries for the morning.

Adult Perks: A very early Friday dinner called for a glass of prosecco. For daytime use, Milo & Olive also has a coffee bar and bakery counter setup in case you can’t make it to its sibling restaurant, Huckleberry (which not counting Sweet Rose Creamery, is the most kid-friendly of ALL the Rustic Canyon family of restaurants, and is a post for another time) a few blocks west. While pizza is definitely the main deal here, market-based specials such as prawns with spring peas broaden the food options in the best possible way; and like Bestia and Sotto, Milo & Olive is a pizza-focused restaurant where it’s not a crime if you don’t order  pizza. Yet unlike those other hot spots, it’s not overtly Italian. It feels more like a quintessentially modern Santa Monica restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling windows, tasteful contemporary art, high standards and a loose enough vibe. In other words, not fancy but not cheap. 

 Pros: Because Milo & Olive is open continuously, no need to wait until 6 to start the evening meal. Dinner can start as early as you like. Take 4:30 on a Friday, for instance, when we wanted to postpone the dreaded drive home east after a day at the Santa Monica Pier. And if you want to ensure you get one of the two communal tables to yourself, try sitting with a couple of small kids. Dinner turned into a bit of social psychology experiment. If given the option, strangers will ALWAYS opt for sitting at the other table or at the counter that faces the kitchen. It’s more fun to chat with the staff that way, too.

Cons: I wouldn’t take kids my age any later than we did, given the get-cozy-with-your-fellow-diners set up AND the walk-ins only policy. Two square shared tables and counter seats make up an interesting choice of how to physically orchestrate a relatively small restaurant. The lack of plastic cups indicates they probably prefer you take children to Huckleberry instead. (This is sort of fine for us, given that our oldest likes to use “grown up” glasses, even though I wish he’d stick with non-breakable vessels.) But since Milo & Olive is named for the owners’ son, this restaurant obviously isn’t against kids either. As for the food, I prefer a tangier, less sweet tomato sauce than the base here.

 Changing Station: No but the bathrooms are very family-user friendly.

High Chairs: Yes, and very cool Euro modern clip-on chairs to compliment the feel of a very smartly designed elaborate home kitchen. Just be very careful to not mess up those marble tables!

Parking and Access: Metered street parking on Wilshire on side streets. On a late afternoon finding a space was easy, but I don’t know how that situation changes the later it gets.

Other Tidbits: The pizza situation around L.A. keeps getting more complex. This is generally a positive development. Instead of the 80s hierarchy, which essentially meant Shakey’s/Wildflour/Angeli Caffe/Casa Bianca/Spago, more niches are getting filled in. Now we have better super casual pizza that we order on Friday nights when we plotz on the couch and watch a movie (and sometimes we’ll eat in there, too), then there’s the in-between, mid-market accessible Pitfire Pizzas and Maximilianos of the world. I think Spago has jettisoned pizzas in its latest incarnation, so high-end pizza means restaurants where you see a lot of jeans and hardly any suits. That said, it’s easy to drop serious coin. With pie prices inching up to the $20 mark, Milo & Olive is by no means an every day type of family meal. So you can ignore the fancy pizzas and dinner specials and go for breakfast, or for a snack off-hours. It might look kind of fancy, but this is still relaxed Santa Monica.

MILO & OLIVE

2723 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
(310) 453-6776
Cuisine: Italian/Cal-Mediterranean/Pizza
Price: $$$
Hours: 7:00 a.m. (bakery only); 8:00 a.m. – 11 p.m., daily

Since around the new year, it’s become all Star Wars, all the time around here. As long as the boys only watch Episodes IV, V and VI, my husband could not be happier. And now I can WAY better appreciate the multi-talented Jenn Fujikawa, she of the justJenn blogs, brilliant edible creations, and clever custom products.

Only if I want to feel forever inadequate will I ever compare my uncrafty self to this L.A. architect and mom of two. I better start preparing NOW if I have any chance of making a Star Wars themed party that’s maybe one tenth as amazing as the one she’s known for. But Jenn’s creativity isn’t limited to the Lucas universe; she’s got mad skills to honor her love for Buffy, Hello Kitty, Doctor Who, and many other comic and geek culture outlets. She also shares her weekly menu planning prowess.

And it turns out the friend who’s been instrumental in our kids’ Star Wars initiation process by generously giving us hand-me-down Star Wars books and lending his beloved limited edition DVDs (the ones with the NON-digitally altered original releases) is a mutual pal of Jenn’s, too. Small (geek) world.

Where are you from?

I’m one of the few natives of Los Angeles. I was born here and I don’t see myself ever leaving because I love this town too much.

How many kids do you have, and how old are they?

I have two boys, they are 9 and 7.

What was the first franchise they really got into?

The first franchise the kids took to was Star Wars. I was so excited because it let me release my inner fan girl since I love it so much. That’s why I came up with the Ultimate Star Wars Party, because it was just as much for me as it was for them! Since then they’ve moved on to Iron Man, Power Rangers and Doctor Who and also basically LEGO everything. My kids’ enthusiasm inspires me to create my recipes!

Do you and your kids have the same taste?

We do have the same taste. Growing up I always wished I could play with my brother’s action figures and Transformers, but it didn’t seem very ‘girl like’. I did end up using some of his Star Wars figures in the dollhouses that I built, which is probably why I grew up to be a theme park architect. I go to a few comic cons throughout the year and it’s nice that all the things my boys like, Star Wars, comics, LEGO are things that I have a vast knowledge of and enjoy too.

So, Star Wars. Although I’m not the curator of such matters in our household, our kids are not yet allowed to watch Episodes 1-3. They only know they exist because of schoolyard chatter and as of last week, Legoland. What’s your policy about this divisive issue?

I am atypical in that I showed my boys all six of the Star Wars movies. They started off with the originals but I let them watch them all and make their own decisions. For better or worse, the kids ended up liking eps 1 and 3 the best. I can’t say we agree but they have a different view of it all than I do and they see the total arc. My 7 year old also has a weird attachment to Anakin turning to the Dark Side and thinks it’s the best thing ever. I am always texting my friend who’s a doctor of psychology to make sure I’m not the worst parent ever because of this.

What are your favorite family restaurants?

I once heard an interview with Anthony Bourdain who said that fast food in other countries is a quick stop for a bowl of noodles or local street food. I totally agree and subscribing to that idea here in L.A. is very easy. I don’t allow my kids to eat fast food so some of our favorite places are just really good local eats that are for everyone. We go to Daikokuya in Little Tokyo a lot and is a great place if you can stand the wait with kids. Our family is from Hawaii so we love local food. King’s Hawaiian in Torrance has wonderful breakfasts that the kids eat up and you have to tear me away from the bakery counter. Eatalian in west Compton has AMAZING Italian food that the kids love and the gelato bar is a plus too. I love Korean food and KBBQ always can feed a whole family easily. There are too many great Korean places in LA, I’d have to make you a list on the side. ;)

What local markets and crafty resources do you recommend for gathering supplies for a big production, such as your Star Wars party?

I throw a lot of parties and as far as cooking supplies, Surfas in Culver City is a regular stop for me. I shop at Farmers’ Markets every week, the Hollywood FM is my favorite but I also go to SaMo, Beverly Hills and Torrance farmer’s markets.

My friends and I have Geek Girl Craft Days where we do a lot of Star Wars and comics related crafts and Michaels is my favorite place to shop for supplies when we have those parties.

Do your kids help you develop your recipes?

My kids definitely help me develop my recipes, sometimes to a fault. Now they are little food critics! But my 9 year old is getting into the action and developing his own recipes now which is nice to see and gives me a break now and then!

What are your favorite baking books? 

My favorite cookbooks are old black and white Hawaiian church cookbooks. They have the craziest recipes and I enjoy revisiting them and creating modern versions of the recipes. I just released a Mochi cookbook and it was my homage to that style of homemade cookbook.

My Melody or Little Twin Stars? And why isn’t Tuxedo Sam more popular? Although I’m happy to see he’s having a bit of a comeback, right?

My Melody or Little Twin Stars is like Sophie’s Choice to me. I’ll say…My Melody because I was just asked by Sanrio to develop a recipe for Almond Pound Cake for My Melody on National Pound Cake Day.  But the real answer is LTS. I adore them and I still have vintage Sanrio products with them on it from back in 1977. I love Tuxedo Sam too, but Hello Kitty will always be number one.

Does the blogosphere need another Legoland post? Nope. So a quick summary: we came, we saw, we ate junky food from park concessionaires and from our own stash of furtively carried snacks. (Serves us right for not scanning the map more closely for better food options first.) Then we hardly went on any rides, and instead mostly gawked at the startling displays of creativity, indulged the current deep Star Wars obsessive phase along with the old standby of American city stuff, and then ran into friends who live way on the Westside whom we hardly see back home. Such is a sad yet cliche truth of L.A. life.

Travel plus kids usually eliminates spontaneity from the equation. This quick spring break trip was a reminder to stay a little loose, because while someone takes a nap in the backseat, you can enjoy Torrey Pines Road and the San Diego County 101 up via La Jolla up along the string of beach towns north of San Diego. (Thankfully we dodged the bullet of Legoland Hotel’s grand opening by a mere few days so weren’t tethered to Carlsbad.) Speaking of La Jolla, based on our serious food-loving friend who lives there, that town seems to be flush with cash but low on the restaurant excitement meter. Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (above), with its clever and deliciously ocean breezy picture window seat outfitted with a roll-top door, shows signs of improvement in that genre. Bird Rock has a small play area for its youngest customers, too.

This was the first time I’d driven in one swoop through Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, and all the way back up to Carlsbad, where we then hooked back up with the 5, and exited again at Ortega Highway to meet up with a dear friend of my husband’s family in San Juan Capistrano. This guy’s an incredible L.A. native, Lincoln Heights-bred character — the type who’s known Manny at Musso’s back since the Scandia days — and the social mayor of his town, which proves to be a good thing when you’ve got antsy children to entertain. (But we won’t be taking them to his workplace, the Swallow’s Inn.)

An afternoon stop turned out to be a reminder in Southern California tourism ignorance. My request to visit the Mission was vetoed when they caught wind of a petting zoo, which turned out to be pretty special in and of itself. And getting to the picturesque Zoomars requires walking over the train tracks and station that’s RIGHT in the heart of things, and rambling through the Los Rios historic district‘s oozing charm and history. This well-preserved pocket is a beautifully protected respite from the highways and the rest of mega-scale O.C. We then learned it’s not easy to extract kids from a large box filled with dry corn in lieu of sand.

As for restaurants, we ate a lovely lunch on the patio at the Mission-adjacent Cedar Creek Inn, where the Cobb salad faithfully replicates the Brown Derby’s, and there’s a good kids’ menu. Next time we’ll pick from the Ramos House (be sure to read to the bottom of its directions page), the Vintage Steakhouse (also hilarity on that website of a different sort), or Sarducci’s in the historic Santa Fe Depot (OK seriously, what IS it with San Juan Capistrano restaurants’ websites??). Had there been more time I would’ve cruised through the farmers’ market set up that day. To close out, got unremarkable sweet treats at Frio to appease better moods as we steeled ourselves for the Orange Crush at rush hour.

Legoland and the overnight accommodations were planned well in advance. This side trip to SJC was not. The impromptu nature of the visit added to the fun, but next time I’ll figure out logistics ahead of time. Most importantly so we can take Amtrak and avoid the two-hour traffic-clogged drive home, check out Doheny State Beach, and make sure I finally tour the Mission.

Imagine growing up in a household with a mom like Italian cooking legend Lidia Bastianich. No wonder her son has become a leading restaurateur and an all around big deal food and wine guy, while her daughter earned a doctorate in art history from Oxford before then collaborating with Lidia on various food, travel, and publishing enterprises. Talk about an incredible path to join.

So it’s pretty exciting that for those of us whose parents most definitely didn’t rock that hard in either the professional or home kitchen can join Lidia for a family meal in Santa Monica at Shutters on the Beach hotel’s Coast restaurant (the site of our annual beloved Christmas Eve gathering) this Wednesday, March 27th. The all-ages Lidia Cooks for Little Ones (and Parents too!) dinner has two smartly timed seatings at 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. and features two separate menus. Some folks might not approve of that approach, but how can you not be curious about how Lidia does mozzarella sticks? The adult dinner is $35 each, the kids’ costs $20 per, inclusive of valet parking and a copy of Lidia’s new children’s book, Lidia’s Family Kitchen: Nonna’s Birthday Surprise.

I’ve posted the full menu after the jump. Call (310) 587-1707 to reserve.

Update: The event has been postponed. Stay tuned for rescheduling info!

Adults’ Menu 

Course 1:  Choice of:

Roasted Pepper & Olive Salad, Fontina, Creamed Cider

Steamed Mussels “Triestina”. White Wine, Garlic, Bread Crumbs

Course 2:  Choice of:

Ricotta Tortellini, Marinara sauce, Parmesan Reggiano

Roasted Chicken, Green Olives, pinenuts

Course 3:

Almond Cake, Red wine Prunes

Chocolate Bread Parfait, Rum, Espresso, Whipped Cream

Kids’ Menu

Course 1:  Choice of:

Mozzarella Sticks

Meatball & Marinara sauce

Course 2:

Mini Pizza

Fettuccine Alfredo

Course 3:

Hazelnut Gelato

Chocolate Biscotti Pudding

Wines by the Glass $10 Each

Flor Prosecco, NV
Flor Prosecco Rose, NV
Bastianich Friulano, 2010
Bastianich Malvasia, 2010
Bastianich Rosato, 2011

Kid Hit Menu Items: The junkie cereal cat’s been out of the bag ever since the breakfast buffet at a Marriott Residence Inn during one family trip or another. I try to steer the kids towards toast and butter when we’re feasting at hotel morning buffets, but it’s no use — they see the cereal dispensers, and I may as well let ‘em at it. Thankfully in their compartmentalized way of thinking, cereal with lots of colors and sweetness happens ONLY at Marriott hotels. Except as of a couple weeks ago, Mix n’ Munch cereal bar and grilled cheese cafe in South Pasadena blew their minds. It was as if I’d stumbled upon a salad bar with every kind of raw kale combo imaginable. Or whatever the opposite of that would be. The grilled cheese component is obviously a smart move, too, along with oatmeal bowls, and fun signature cereal combos to go with the customized options. The Mix n’ Munch folks sure get creative with these raw materials.

Adult Perks: Back in the day, my sister and I had a few good fights over who’d get what boxes in the Kellogg’s snack packs. (We’d eventually come up with an egalitarian trade-off system.) I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for the “part of this nutritious breakfast” that we saw repeatedly advertised during Saturday morning cartoons. My husband, on the other hand, is a different story. He LOVES this place. Maybe even more than the boys do.

Pros: Mix n’ Munch is a few storefronts away from the Mission Gold Line station in the heart of charming South Pas. The wall of magnets and books indicates that these folks know their target market, although it seemed to be more high school/college age youth hanging out there than toddlers or grade schoolers. In all fairness, these kids might’ve had their own mix n’ munch needs to satisfy. Otherwise it has a nice college town cafe/coffeehouse vibe that’s good for studying, with some fun cereal-inspired art mixed in, too.

Cons: Good luck convincing your kids lunch counts as “daytime dessert.” Chances are you’ll probably still hear begging and pleading for sweets a few hours later.

Changing Station: No but a convenient bathroom set-up.

High Chairs: Yes

Parking and Access: Either Gold Line it there, or find easy street parking. Our friend rode her bike since the area is bike-friendly.

Other Tidbits: If all else fails — and I seriously doubt it will — there’s a La Monarca bakery location next door.

MIX N’ MUNCH

1005 Mission St., Unit A, South Pasadena
(626) 441-8808
Cuisine: American/Cereal
Price: $
Hours: Monday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.