Kickin' It Mac Style! Truxton's American Bistro

By Suzy Gruyere

I haven’t eaten mac and cheese in over a month. I know!! Tragic!! But I’m back on the job now and raring to go, so it seemed only fitting that I should apply my new energy and focus to a dish that calls itself “Kicked Up.” It turned out to be a fine choice.

Truxton’s American Bistro is located near LAX, as is my workplace. In its former incarnation as an old-school Chinese restaurant, this address welcomed my colleagues and me for many enjoyable lunches. The building’s transformation from a dingy, stereotypical 1960s Asian joint into a modern, sundrenched wine bar is dramatic. For anyone who never knew it as Madame Wong’s, the space probably feels a little schizophrenic because the comfy booths and Restoration Hardware lighting fixtures shout “old fashioned Midwest diner” while the exposed ductwork ceilings and big screen plasmas say “contemporary California sports bar.”

The menu is all over the place, too. It adheres to the Cheesecake Factory “something for everyone” philosophy of dining, but on a blessedly smaller scale. Still, there are numerous Asian-ish, Italian-ish, Mexican-ish and healthy-ish offerings in the mix as well as good old American classics. Truxton’s is known for its hearty burgers and garlic fries, and the ones I observed looked and smelled really, really good. I am all in favor of their stated “crate to plate” philosophy of sourcing fresh ingredients locally. The breakfast menu is intriguing enough for a return visit, too. But on this day, my objective was the Kicked Up Mac and Cheese!

Truxton’s mac is billed as “Jumbo elbow macaroni in our creamy sauce made with a blend of five cheeses and oven roasted tomatoes, topped with crispy onions.” It will set you back only $9.98 for a serving that is ample enough to ensure leftovers.





The elbows are a bit larger than usual and they feature prominent ridges in which the sauce may nestle. And what a sauce it is! When the dish arrived at my table, the sauce was too loose, dribbling out of the noodle cavities as I lifted each forkful to my mouth. But after a moment to cool and set up, this runny sauce resolved into a perfect consistency, creamy enough to cling and with just a bit of rebound to it.

I was skeptical about the inclusion of roasted grape tomatoes but they added a nice acidic counterpoint to the richness of the cheese. There’s not so much tomato presence as to redden the sauce, it’s more like an occasional burst of surprise in your mouth. Even the sprinkle of minced parsley, which at first seemed superfluous, proved to be a valuable flavor note. And the tender house-made fried onions that crown this mac – sigh! Very nice touch. (Note to self: Try topping a home-cooked mac with a layer of crushed French’s onions, the kind that usually are relegated to Thanksgiving's green bean casserole.)

My first bite of Truxton’s macaroni and cheese included a morsel of browned cheesy goodness and suddenly a wave of déjà vu washed over me. It was such a familiar flavor but I couldn’t quite place it. Eventually the server jogged my memory. Turns out the most prominent element of this dish’s five cheese blend is blue cheese. I know!! Unusual. And totally delicious! It really works. She wasn’t 100% positive but my server thought the other four cheeses were Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere and smoked Mozzarella.





Mmm, does that look yummy, or what?! I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t eaten macaroni and cheese in so long, but I thoroughly enjoyed Truxton’s Kicked Up Mac. The sharpness of the blue cheese really won me over. I look forward to dining there again, probably on a Monday evening when wine sold by the bottle is half-price. Care to join me, Hilary?

Truxton’s American Bistro
8611 Truxton Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90045
310-417-8789

www.truxtonsamericanbistro.com

No to Nolita House's Boozy Bluegrass Brunch - NY Part 2

By Hilary Havarti
For anyone who missed the Part 1 recap of my recent trip to NY, it started on a high note with scrumptious mac and cheese from Gourmet Garage. The next stop on the itinerary was Nolita House in SoHo. According to the website, this establishment prides itself on its friendly setting, neighborhood charm, great comfort food, libations, artisan cheese, entertainment, a relaxed environment and oh yeah, lots and lots of mac and cheese. I met up with my friends Dana and Lydia at Nolita House on a Sunday afternoon right smack in the middle of the their weekend Boozy Bluegrass Brunch rush.

Having spent a low-key morning seated in a ballroom listening to experts expound on the children’s book market, I wasn’t quite ready for the fiddlin’ Deliverance-esque ruckus awaiting me at Nolita House. The tiny restaurant seats only about 40-50 people tops and was at max capacity. Add to that a screaming four piece Bluegrass Band and you’ve got the makings of a very jarring meal. Perhaps if I was partaking in the “boozy” part of the bluegrass brunch, I might have been more equipped to handle the noise. But truth be told, I’m not a huge bluegrass fan, drunk or sober. I do, however, love me some Blues, like Bobby Blue Bland Blues, that is.

Now in case you hadn’t heard, New York seems to have instituted a hard core Brunch Law.  Meaning, if you show up at a restaurant on a weekend, anytime between 8am and 4pm, you’ll eat only off the brunch menu whether you like it or not. I’ll spare you the Andy Rooney diatribe but it seems silly to make the regular menu totally off limits on weekends. Needless to say, I ran into this problem at Nolita House. My friends and I had studied the menu prior to our visit and were excited to try many of their mac and cheese offerings i.e., Mac and Cheese Spring Rolls with bacon dipping sauce, Lobster Bake mac and cheese, The Popeye with spinach, bacon and four cheeses, Original and a Mac and Cheeseburger! But when we arrived, the only mac and cheese available on the brunch menu was Original. Ah well. In spite of our disappointment and gentle nudging of the waitress (Dana told her I was a VERY important food blogger) to ask the cook if he’d make an exception (he would not) we settled for the Original. Don’t get me wrong, our server was lovely and the diners seated next to us very friendly. They even gave us an extra pillow for our sensitive back sides, as our table butted (pun attended) against a window and the bench had a very uncomfortable ledge requiring several stacks of pillows to make it sitable.  

The Food
We waited a pretty long time for our food to arrive, I won’t lie. Poor Lydia nearly had a hypoglycemic fit and might have eaten a sugar packet in desperation, but that could be my memory playing tricks on me. The mac and cheese came out first and looked very promising as you can see from the photo. It arrived in a little iron skillet lightly dusted with almost burned panko bread crumbs.

After the first bite Lydia said, “This tastes like Fettuccini Alfredo.” She nailed it. It was a very creamy dish but the Béchamel and nutmeg overpowered everything else. It lacked a kick and was borderline bland. The Fusilli noodles were cooked correctly, though it's not my favorite mac pasta. I gave it top marks on the gooey/creamy/rich scale but at the end of the day, it did not impress. The menu said it was prepared with four cheeses but we couldn’t convince our server to reveal the secret ingredients. My best guess is Parmesan, Cheddar, Gruyere and maybe another kind of Swiss. Dana missed a crispy cheese crust like we’d enjoyed on the Gourmet Garage mac and she found the chalky aftertaste off-putting.

The rest of the food fared better. Lydia’s grits were tangy and creamy and we wished the mac had more of that tang. We suspected the same Béchamel sauce used in the mac was repurposed as gravy for the Biscuits and Gravy dish of which Lydia applauded the addition of sausage.  Eggs Benedict (pictured above) got a big thumbs up from Dana but my Salmon Salad was inedible due an overabundance of celery salt. Another friend who joined our party later informed me that the East Coast salts everything 25% more than the West Coast. Who knew? All in all, it was a satisfying meal for most of the guests. I will have to wait for another trip to sample some of the other macs and I’ll make sure not to go on a weekend.

So there you have it. One GREAT mac and cheese from Gourmet Garage and one meh, nothing special mac from Nolita House. Next stop, Westmount Smokey Mac and Cheese. Stay tuned. 

Nolita House

47 East Houston Street Upstairs

NY, NY 10012

212-625-1712

http://www.nolitahouse.com