CJ in LA: Change of Direction

I was supposed to do something today. Hmmm. What was it? Oh, yeah... I was supposed to write reviews of all the wonderful bands I saw at the Sunset Junction Music Festival. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that because the city decided to shut it down. In an effort to avoid developing an ulcer by writing a second potentially controversial post about the festival, I will change direction and write a review of a different kind.

To fill the emptiness left behind by the festival cancellation, I spent my weekend eating. Lots and lots of eating. So, I have decided to review the weekend's favorite: Cafe Beaujolais.

I went to to this French restaurant for a bridal shower/bachelorette party for my friend Tara. This is where I should insert a photo from the party, but I didn't bring my camera. And you know that means that I won't have any pictures of the food either. Bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger.

The first noteworthy item about Cafe Beaujolais is its location. It lies in an unassuming, unremarkable area of Eagle Rock just down the road from a Target. The second noteworthy item would have to be the attentive and charming waiters (and owners?). They are all very handsome, slightly-scruffed Frenchmen wearing t-shirts and jeans. You can't go wrong with some scruff and an accent. However, one guy's accent was a little dubious - it seemed to switch from Irish to German to French and back again. When I told Dan about this he said the guy could have been from Switzerland. Maybe. Or he just knows that American gals dig foreign accents. Either way, I'm not complaining.

Now to the food. The glorious, glorious food. We started with herbed goat cheese crustini and escargot. The escargot was swimming (metaphorically) in a finger-licking (not metaphorically) garlic and butter sauce. The next time I go I could order only the escargot, a bottle of wine, and endless baskets of bread for dipping in that divine sauce. Well, I might be able to do that if I were not already planning to order the duck... and the lamb... and the trout...

Eating escargot always makes me a little nostalgic. When I was a kid living on the coast of Maine, my parents would take my brother and me periwinkle hunting. Periwinkles are small, edible snails that live on the rocks underneath seaweed in cold water tide pools. My mom would boil them in the ocean water then we would pry them out of their shells, dip them in melted butter, and chow down.

At a friend's suggestion, I ordered the halibut for my entree. To quote my own Facebook status: "Holy Halibut, Batman!" It came parmesan-crusted on a silky, creamy champagne sauce. It was topped with a surprising, but delicious candied orange rind garnish. Accompanying the heavenly halibut were carrots and perfectly tender asparagus spears. Over-cooked asparagus is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Now, I did neglect to bring my camera, but I stole a few photos from Cafe Beaujoiais' Facebook page.