for today’s letter, i have a guest and friend sahana taking over to tell you about her week of eats. she’s an incredible designer and creative who’s lived in london, san francisco, santa cruz, and has now made her way down the coast to los angeles with her husband and adorable dog, rovi. enjoy!
Hi readers of Srishti's state of the table! I’m Sahana, and am writing to you from Santa Monica, Los Angeles. I moved down here a year ago from the Bay Area mainly because I wanted more sun and it’s truly been such an amazing change. Los Angeles has a sprawling and varied food scene, architectural history (I am on a constant hunt for tours of case study houses), generally the unlimited potential for fun things to be happening.
Srishti and I went to college together but mainly connected on insta where I became obsessed with every recipe she posted, and quickly became a reply guy for all her stories. I asked her to make my wedding cake when I got married at City Hall and still dream about it - olive oil sponge with wild blueberry jam layers and lemon tahini buttercream!
Most LA residents would gasp when they hear me say I travel from Santa Monica to KTown / Silverlake for dinner but what can I say … I am passionate about food, and try to act like a tourist since I know I won’t live here forever. You have caught me on a particularly indulgent week of eating delicious things, at home and out. So I’ll share some stand outs.
I told my friend, Susan, that I was craving vegetarian korean food, which I usually associate with cozy nights at home at my parents place in Palo Alto where I “accidentally” use their doordash account to order Sundubu with dumplings from Tofu House (which is absolutely on my death row meal menu).
Susan sent me a tiktok on Borit Gogae of a table filled to the brim with little plates of little vegetables and soups, that the creator said was a “DIY Bibimbap spot” and I immediately said YES. When we arrived, Susan quickly ordered for us ($30/person for a set meal), and the plates started coming out. My favorites were some fermented peppers and bean sprouts, as well as a kimchi pancake and a steamed cabbage side. I was really impressed as a somewhat newbie to Korean food, but a friend did message me on insta sharing that she found it to be under salted and a little too “healthy,” but I think for the novelty and sheer value of food, it’s worth going.
Later in the week, I finally had a reservation at a place I had heard about before I even moved to Los Angeles, Pijja Palace, which is known for Italian Indian fusion. It’s definitely one of those places that was tiktok famous last year for its decadent pastas and pizzas (think Malai Rigatoni - a spicy rigatoni with warming spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and a tomato base). It was delicious and I was lucky enough to have a few noodles leftover for lunch the next day, and it tasted even better somehow. I was also obsessed with the Dosa onion rings. They were crispy and tangy thanks to the fermented dosa battering. We also loved dessert - a cardamom soft serve with cookies on top. I was also excited by the cocktail list, as I love an Indian inspired cocktail, but I’d say they weren’t super memorable. The only dimmer light was the Green Chutney pizza, which to me, felt like the pizza base wasn’t good enough compared to the flavorful, herby green chutney on top. I called my parents on the way home raving, telling them we have to go when they visit, so I’d call it an overall success.
I cooked a few things this week as well.
Anyone who follows me on instagram knows I am going through the cliche Sourdough Girl phase - documenting how holey my crumb is for the two people who actually care, but I simply can’t get enough. I got my starter from my dad who has been making sourdough for eight years, and it’s brought me more joy than I expected for such a delayed gratification type process. I realized a surefire way to start my day on a good note is to have the ‘christmas morning’ feeling of checking on a starter or dough I set out the night before. I use Tartine’s country bread recipe for the most part, and enjoy the fresh bread either warm with Kerrygold, dipped in a stew, or covered in cottage cheese, tomatoes, and basil. Can’t go wrong.
A friend came over for dinner and I put her to work chopping. We improvised based on Bon Appetit’s Gado Gado recipe. I love a complex, savory salad but hate the work involved with making said salad, so she painstakingly chopped cabbage, carrot, green onion, and cilantro while I whizzed together a simple peanut dressing, pan fried some marinated tempeh, and boiled some rice noodles. We threw it all together, resulting in an exceptional, albeit inauthentic Gado Gado.
My husband and I went to Esalen in Big Sur last month for an attempt to unplug and showed up towards the end of meal time on the first night (meals are served summer camp style, during a specific hour, and meant to be eaten communally). We grabbed some coconut stew and bread, and chatted with a father and son who were there on a weekend together. They disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a little cup of sweet potato, homemade whipped cream, and granola. We sort of turned our noses up, having hoped for a more traditional dessert, but stopped by the dessert window on our way back to our room. After one bite we looked at each other and said “this is the best granola we’ve ever eaten.” It was rich, mapley, and nutty. I vowed to try to recreate it at home, and I did. I based it off this recipe from 26 Grains, a favorite breakfast spot of mine in London. I’ve made three batches of it and they never last more than a week in our house.
Other things inspiring me
Casa Lawa - a guest house in Sicily that I am trying to visit during an upcoming Italy trip in May!
Big Swiss - an absurdist book by Jen Beagin my sister recommended
Natalie Rotter Laitman - comedian of the podcast Exploration Live who makes me LOL. Just went to her weekly show in NYC which I highly recommend.
hope y’all enjoyed this little guest feature. see you soon!
Such a well-written post! I literally opened every link <3