More slurping on Sawtelle: Miyata Menji to open Wednesday

Sawtelle is booming with another round of new restaurants, and the next anticipated opening is Japanese import Miyata Menji — the tsukemen joint that has taken over what was the former gr/eats space. A bold move with Tsujita L.A., which serves ramen and tsukemen at lunch, directly across the street?  

Japanese comedian Tetsuji Miyata brings his Miyata Menji concept to L.A. from Osaka, where noodles dubbed TG2-D and KK100 are served in ramen and tsukemen (in the latter dish, noodles are served separate from the broth, into which they're dipped). On the menu are just two items: tonkotsu ramen with pork broth, teriyaki beef, shallots and fried tomatoes, and tsukemenwith steamed noodles, anchovy cabbage, grated cheese (optional), minced pork, vegetable potage, tomato and croutons. Um, wow. 

"Very simple," says Miyata Menji general manager Aki Kanda. "Like the In-N-Out" of ramen. 

The menu comes with instructions for eating tsukemen: "1. Enjoy flavor of wheat from noodle! 2. Try few noodle by itself then feel flavor, texture. 3. Dip noodle into broth & noodle little by little. 4. Enjoy all ingredients with noodle little by little. 5. When you finished half of noodle, grind pepper to noodle and enjoy!"

On Wednesday, Kanda says Miyata, who performed in the theater group Shampoo Hat under the umbrella of entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo, will appear at the grand opening.  

Miyata Menji, 2050 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 312-3929, www.miyatamenji.com. 

(P.S. In case you're keeping track of new Sawtelle restaurants, Korean soon tofu spot Seoul House of Tofu opened two weeks ago, serving soon tofu — spicy tofu stew — and bulgogi combos. 2101 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 444-9988.) 

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— Betty Hallock

Photo credit: miyatamenji.com

Common Grains: Japanese food and culture 101 coming to L.A.

When it comes to finding Japanese food in Los Angeles, one doesn't have to look very far. Whether served up traditionally or fusion-style, the city's multitude of udon, soba, sushi and ramen joints seem limitless. We love our Japanese food here in L.A., that's for certain, but how much do we actually know about it?

To give Angelenos a better of understanding of Japanese cuisine and culture, artisan soba maker and Japanese food expert Sonoko Sakai has collaborated with Shinmei to present Common Grains, a series of culinary events that will take place in Los Angeles.

Throughout the months of January and February, milling demonstrations, panel discussions, film screenings and rice and soba workshops will take place all over town to engage and immerse Angelenos in Japanese food culture.

The event will kick off on January 8 with an onigiri creation contest at the Japanese American National Museum’s annual Oshogatsu festival and will follow with various events like the soba and rice workshops at Tortoise General Store on January 21 and 22 and Japanese films focused on none other than rice at Atwater Crossing on February 3 and 4. Also, on January 10-19, Breadbar Century City will host a pop-up and sake bar and soba restaurant featuring freshly stoned and milled handcrafted soba.

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Photo: Ramen at Ramen Yamada in Torrance. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

5 Questions for Shigetoshi Nakamura

Ramen master Shigetoshi Nakamura is owner of Ikemen, the "dip ramen" joint in Hollywood. He's also known as one of Japan's "Four Ramen Devas," and after opening restaurants in Tokyo and Kanagawa, he came to L.A. where the fresh ingredients and seasonal produce -- along with inspiration from his friend Ferran Adria, of El Bulli -- made way for his take on the traditional soup.   

What’s coming up next on your menu? We came to Hollywood, the capital of the movie industry, to start a ramen restaurant two months ago. Although we've been welcomed with open arms, there's still a lot we need to learn. Today, we're in the process of perfecting our menu with the philosophy of umami, the essence of excellent taste at its core. The dish we're most excited to soon release goes by the name of "Ghost Buster," a dish inspired by the respective movie.

Latest ingredient obsession? That would be our water. At Ikemen, we utilize a filter that removes 100% of all excess substances in the water -- everything from chlorine to radioactive toxins. This also happens to be the same filter NASA astronauts use in space. We believe that water is the foundation of all cuisine, the first step to good food, and we're unyielding when it comes to putting our best foot forward. 

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? I'm a stubborn repeater at Toshi Sushi. The "deluxe seafood bowl" hits the spot everytime. It's a perfected, magnificent dish.

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without, other than your knives? Our giant stock pot. When making ramen, the most important element is the soup. Since we can't make our soup without the stock pot it's naturally the second most important thing to us, the first being our lives.

What’s the last non-food-related book you read? "Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography." I am a student of his creativity and conceptual intelligence, as they are very relevant to the culinary arts and food creation in general.

1655 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood, (323) 800-7669, ikemenhollywood.com.

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Photo credits: Ikemenhollywood.com

I dip, you dip, we dip: noodles at Ikemen

"Dip ramen," as the few-weeks-old Hollywood ramen spot Ikemen calls it, is its own breed of ramen -- in Japanese, tsukemen. A couple of things about tsukemen: The noodles and toppings are served separately from the broth, and the broth is concentrated and dense, the better to adhere to the noodles when you dip them into the bowl.

It's the specialty at Ikemen, located at Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, where the staff wear fedoras and ties, it's all jazz all the time, and a framed hunk of katsuobushi (dried, fermented and smoked bonito) hangs on the wall. The vibe is sort of Hollywood strip mall meets scene from a Haruki Murakami novel. 

And that framed katsuobushi -- it's a telltale decoration. General manager Takashi Adachi, who wields a refractometer to gauge the density of the broth, imports the dried bonito for the restaurant from his father's katsuobushi company in Japan. Powdered katsuobushi flavors the broth for the signature Ikemen dip ramen, and it is heady stuff. Talk about flavor. It's served with thick, springy noodles and your choice of roasted pork or grilled  chicken. When you're finished with all of your noodles and if there's any broth left over, your server will ask if you want to "break" the broth. They'll add a little hot water so that you can sip the rest of it, mellowed but still as tasty.

1655 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood, (323) 800-7669, www.ikemenhollywood.com.

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 -- Betty Hallock

Photo: Ikemen tsukemen. Credit: Betty Hallock 

'Worst Cooks in America' is casting in L.A.

As a general rule, I try to avoid writing about bad cooks. But in this case, I just had to. Food Network is currently casting in L.A. for the third season of its primetime reality show, "Worst Cooks in America."

So if you know a truly terrible cook, nominate them as the very worst! If they get cast they'll have an opportunity to burn toast on national TV, as well as a shot at winning $25,000.

They'll also get to study with Food Network stars Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell, who each head up a team of lousy chefs on the show. The idea is to turn these culinary troglolytes into budding Betty Crockers. The most-improved gets the money, perhaps to pay back their friends and family for all of the sub-par meals they have made them suffer through.

Unfortunately due to the public nature of this post I can't tell you who the worst cook I know is. It would hurt his feelings! I also know that I wouldn't dare nominate him for this show. The man has pride, and thinks he can cook.

But he and I both know that he once undercooked 3-minute ramen so badly that it was just a semi-soggy brick of noodles in a bowl. And he did it because he was tired of waiting for the water to boil. After he ate it, he said it was really good. I'm certain he said it to spite me. Bad cooks are like that.

Full nomination information after the jump:

Shin-Sen-Gumi to open in Little Tokyo

Mitsuyasu Shigeta's empire of Shin-Sen-Gumi restaurants is expanding to Little Tokyo. The sign is already up at the former Izayoi space on Central Avenue (between 1st and 2nd streets), and a Sept. 8 opening is planned, says president Nori Kamiya. 

Kamiya says the Little Tokyo Shin-Sen-Gumi will serve Hakata ramen (other Shin-Sen-Gumi locations specialize in ramen, yakitori grilled chicken or chanko stew), the style of ramen from northwestern Kyushu known for its thick, pork bone-based tonkotsu soup. Shin-Sen-Gumi uses Berkshire pork and filtered water, cooking the soup for more than 15 hours, "with a strong flame from a commercial-grade jet burner," according to its website. Its cha-shu (roast pork) is prepared with its secret sauce, and the noodles (thinner, Hakata-style noodles) are specially sourced. 

The ramen is sort of make-your-own, in that you select the doneness of the noodles and the thickness and richness of the soup. Extra noodles are an option. So is a spicy miso broth. 

Move over, Daikokuya? 

Shin-Sen-Gumi Little Tokyo, 132 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, www.shinsengumigroup.com.

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-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Betty Hallock / Los Angeles Times

For hot days, cold noodles at Ramen Bull

In 92-degree heat in the middle of August in L.A., even the hardiest ramen aficionado might think twice about sticking her face over a steaming bowl of ramen -- no matter how hungry for hot noodle soup with roast pork that first issue of Lucky Peach made her. That's where hiyashi chuka comes in: cold ramen noodles served in a refreshingly rice-vinegary sauce, typically topped with julienned vegetables and omelet, shredded chicken, sliced ham, maybe some beni shoga (pickled red ginger) and strips of dried seaweed and a little spicy mustard.

Chef Noriyuki Sugie is serving, off-the-menu and for a limited time, his own version of hiyashi chuka at the ramen-shop-in-a-bakery called Ramen Bull, which runs through at least the end of September at Breadbar on 3rd Street. He sources his fresh chukamen noodles (made with wheat flour and kansui, an alkaline solution) from a San Jose-based company. The toppings are unusual: fresh tiny leaves of spinach and flowers, crispy onions, avocado, bits of beef shank, halved cherry tomatoes, julienned radish, soy-marinated boiled egg, and pomegranate seeds -- "for crunch," says Sugie, who notes ramen "is my passion." The best part might be the sauce, based on Sugie's beef shank consomme, just slightly gelatinous and super rich, touched with the tang of rice vinegar. Mix it all together with some of his house-made chile paste.

Get it while you can.

Ramen Bull at Breadbar on 3rd Street, 8718 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, (310) 205-0124, www.breadbar.net. Ramen Bull hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

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Ever crave liquid pork?

 
Here's a sneak peek at what's coming in this week's Food section: Our Find of the Week is Ramen Yamadaya in Torrance:

Tonkotsu is the heart of the matter at Ramen Yamadaya, an unassuming little ramen shop in Torrance squeezed between a skate shop and the 405 Freeway. Proper tonkotsu broth is made by simmering pork bones for the better part of the day, and the result is a lush, intensified, liquefied pork. A good tonkotsu broth feels like a crushed velvet smoothie.

Yamadaya's tonkotsu broth looks promising: cloudy, dense with porky particulate. A first sip doesn't disappoint, revealing a sensuous version of tonkotsu broth -- almost fuzzy, like drinking a pork Snuggie.

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Sampler Platter: Donuts, spaghetti & heart-shaped watermelon

Mobile cheesecakes, the cutest fruit in the world and one man's love affair with noodles in today's roundup of food news.

• Heart-shaped watermelons from (where else?) Japan. Japan Probe via Boing Boing
• Finalists for "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest include Grandma's Blueberry Maple Donut (blueberry cake donut with maple icing and graham cracker crunch) and the King (a Bananas Foster-filled donut with peanut butter icing and chopped peanuts). Boston Globe
• People who had been avoiding donuts because of carbs are flocking to them as a comfort food during the recession, which has been a huge boon to Dunkin' Donuts. Ad Age
• From mobile cheesecake in Manhattan to frogs legs on the go from the upcoming Chez Spencer truck in San Francisco, CNET catches wind of the Twitter/food truck trend.
• An ode to the fresh O.J. cart on Bonnie Brae in Echo Park. Reservation for Three
• From bohemian fad to staple restaurant dish: spaghetti from the 1890s to the 1930s. Restaurant-ing through History
• Rameniac reviews Andy Raskin's "The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life," a memoir about love, sex and one man's relationship to noodles.
• Can one family survive the 99 Cent Only Store? One mom attempts to feed her family with healthy groceries from it for one week. Momlogic

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Spaghetti and meatballs at Little Dom's. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times.

Sampler Platter: BBQ in Westwood & Atwater Village, ramen in NY and more

It's Monday, but this food news might make you feel less blue ...

• Westwood Brewing Company "will try to shed its college bar label as it converts into a "serious" BBQ joint." Eater LA
• We've heard that the lines are long for Bigmista's Barbecue at the Atwater Village farmer's market, and Atwater Village Newbie confirms it.
• "Momofuku is a gentrified abomination of a ramen shop with food peddled to New York diners who really ought to know better." The Rameniac
• The Locavore's dilemma: What to do with the kale, turnips and parsley that overwhelm your community-supported agriculture bin. Slate
• Polish member of Parliament fails drunk-driving test. Claims he ate too many apples that fermented in his stomach. Metro UK
• Tonight at the Astor Center in N.Y., Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert and and New York Times writer Christine Muhlke will be doing a big event around their new book, "On The Line," a behind-the-scenes look at how Ripert's famed restaurant runs. The Feedbag

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo:  Hannah Geddis, 30, savors Memphis-style baby back ribs at Gus's Barbecue in South Pasadena. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times